My Little Pony vs ..........

Chapters

My Little Ponies, welcome to Hell.
Lucy vs Pinkie Pie
Dalek vs Twilight Sparkle
Toph Beifong vs Rarity
Katniss Everdeen vs Fluttershy
Predator vs Applejack
Pikachu vs Rainbow Dash
Taokaka vs Pinkie Pie
Vizzini vs Twilight Sparkle
Esmeraude vs Rarity by Brain in the Jar
The Gremlins vs Fluttershy
Applejack vs Genghis Khan
SURVIVAL GAME: Mane Six vs the Weeping Angels
MLP vs Derpy by Lil.Woona
Kirito and Asuna vs Twilight Sparkle
Duke Nukem vs Rarity
Fluttershy vs the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog
Lord Eddard Stark vs Applejack
Xros Heart vs Rainbow Dash by Prince Luna

My Little Ponies, welcome to Hell.

The sun rose slowly over the peaceful little Equestrian village of Ponyville. Ponies slept soundly in their beds while birds whistled and chirped happily to themselves. In a large tree on the edge of town though, a young lavender unicorn was already hard at work reorganising her bookshelves. While she had been sleeping, Twilight Sparkle had had the idea to organise her books by author name, rather than by title, and so now bothe she and her somewhat disgruntled baby dragon assisstant Spike were clearing all of the shelves ready to re stack them. Despite the ungodly hour, the two workers had already accomplished a great deal.

"So," Spike enquired. "What are you gonna do when we're finished here?"

Twilight Shrugged. "Probably go to the spa with Rarity or see if Applejack needs any help. I hadn't really thought that far ahead."

Spike yawned loudly, allowing a small spark of flame to escape his maw and attach to the book he was holding. Twilight whirled around and extinguished the flames that had started devouring the book in Spike's claws. The dragon's face turned gradually red with shame as Twilight Sparkle scowled at him.

Suddenly, dark laughter began to fill the room, quiet at first but building into a deafening roar of malicious humour. The sun grew dimmer and dimmer until it was almost completely blotted out from the sky. A mighty wind tore through the library, sending books and papers flying everywhere.

In the far right hand corner, a foul green ball of swirling and pulsating light rose up and the villainous laughter grew louder and louder still. Twilight could easily distinguish between two seperate voices now, one male and the other female. Twilight shielded her eyes as the disgusting orb of light swelled and exploded with an incredible flash.

Stood there, towering over the quivvering purple unicorn, were Crysalis and Discord.

"YOU!?" Twilight shrieked in utter disbelief. "How did you escape from your statue? And how did YOU get back into Equestria without Celestia knowing?"

Twilight was absolutely terrified and the two demons before her knew it. Their very presence was a source of fear for virtually every living being in Equestria, and even more so for Twilight and her gang. Crysalis stepped forward and with a menacing glint in her eye hissed into Twilight's ear.
"All in due time child, all in due time."

Discord threw his head backed and laughed heartily. Crysalis merely glared down at Twilight, smiling with a grin that conveyed pure hatred. Her twisted, broken horn began to glow and before Twilight could do anything to stop her, the unicorn had already been engulfed in the vile green light...
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Meanwhile, on the other side of town, in a cottage next to the Everfree Forest, a little yellow pegasus was tending to her animals. Fluttershy quietly went around to each of the hutches in her garden and gently reached inside, waking every single bunny, guinea pig, hamster and even two lizards with a warm hug. Every little animal greeted her with a happy smile and a cute noise which made Fluttershy very glad.

One rabbit however was growing increasingly impatient with the young mare and slapped his foot repeatedly agaisnt the floor of his hutch, demanding to be fed. Fluttershy tenderly told Angel Bunny that he would simply have to wait, just like all of the other animals in Fluttershy's care. As expected, Angel Bunny was none too impressed with the idea of having to wait and continued to tap his foot loudly and evermore impatiently.

Fluttershy softly beat her wings and she began to fly up the huge tree that stood proudly just outside her house. Once she was among the branches and leaves, Fluttershy opened her mouth and sang out a pretty little five note phrase. Most of the birds and squirrels in th tree whistled or chirped their echo to the mare's singing. Satisfied that all of her little friends were awake, Fluttershy let herself descend. She nodded and headed into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

In the kitchen, Fluttershy was busy chopping lettuce leaves and mixing fruit salads when two exceptionally large porcupines scuttled quietly into the room and crept up right behind her. Fluttershy was startled by them at first, but quickly offered them a bowl of apples each by way of apology. The porcupines glanced at each other before letting their disguise fall. As the façade of porcupines crumbled away, the creatures revealed their true nature. Grinning menacingly at the petrified pony were two changelings. Their horns began to glow a sickly green and Fluttershy saw a burst of green light before everything went black...
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Out in the Badlands, Rarity was busy finding gem stones to use in her latest dress design. She needed several hundred rubies, so she had decided to head out early to get as much work done as possible today. However, while Rarity understood the importance of working hard, she absolutely loathed doing the dirty work herself. There was a reason that she usually brought Spike along on these little treasure hunts.

"Oh," Rarity cursed when a clump of dirt landed on her delicate white fur. "Why didn't I leave it an hour or two before coming out here?" Rarity moaned as she levitated her shovel over to the left of the hole she had been digging and emptied it onto the small mound that had accumulated. "I really wish I had my little Spikey Wikey here to help me."

Rarity drove her shovel once again into the dirt, this time hearing a very loud clang of metal as her shovel made contact with a particularly large gem stone. "Jackpot!"

As Rarity began to yank the gem out of the ground, her ears pricked up. She could hear a faint scrabbling noise behind her, quiet but close. She span around, looking in all directions, but saw no one. Not entirely trusting of the apparent silence of the Badlands, Rarity went back to the gem stone, but made sure to keep an ear open in case she heard anything else. But as soon as her attention had returned to the gem, Rarity heard the scrabbling noise again, as well as hushed voices whispering underground.

Rarity didn't even stop to think, she just dropped her shovel and bolted. She knew what those voices belonged to, and after her last run in with the Diamond Dogs, Rarity knew that she had to get out of there and fast. Looking behind her, Rarity saw two large Diamond Dogs burst out of the ground and start chasing her down at a full sprint. Rarity dropped every gem stone she had collected in order to make herself lighter so she could run faster.

Rarity could see the edge of the Badlands just a few hundred yards away and the Diamond Dogs were still too far behind to catch her up before she could make it back to Ponyville. She smiled to herself, lowered her head and charged on. Suddenly, the ground under Rarity broke apart and two muscular paws leapt up towards her. The grubby canine appendages wrapped around her middle and started pulling her down. The white pony shrieked in terror as the Diamond Dog began dragging her underground.

"Stop squirming Pony!" The Diamond Dog whispered in his raspy disgusting voice. "The Mistress wants you in good condition."

Rarity squealed one last time before the ground swallowed her up completely...
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Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was working the morning shift at Sugarcube Corner. Mr and Mrs Cake were still very tired, having been up all night looking after Pound Cake and Pumkin Cake, so Pinkie had offered to take the entire day working the shop. However, Pinkie Pie was begining to regret taking the morning shift in addition to her own. It wasn't that the shop was especially busy, far from it in fact. Pinkie had been watching the shop for two hours now and the only other pony that had come in was Derpy who came in to buy a muffin before heading off on her rounds.

Pinkie Pie yawned and put her head down on the counter. She was SO BORED! There were only so many things that a party pony extrovert like her could do by herself, and she had almost exhausted the list. Since nopony else seemed to be coming in, Pinkie Pie decided that she would bake some cupcakes to pass the time. She thought back to the cupcakes she had baked with Apple Bloom and chuckled to herself. They had not been great cupcakes, but they sure were fun to make.

"Alright, what do we have?" Pinkie Pie asked as she started humming to herself. She threw every cupboard door in the entire shop open and bounced around trying to find all of the necessary ingredients for her cupcakes. "Cup of flour, something sweet (not sour), pinch of salt and a teaspoon of vanilla...vanilla? Where's the vanilla? How can we not have vanilla?"

Pinkie Pie grabbed some money and bounced out the door. She made sure to flip the sign on the door to CLOSED to let everypony know that there was nopony in the shop. Still bouncing like a bright pink rubber ball, Pinkie Pie headed towards the store. She'd only be a few minutes, so she wasn't too worried about missing any customers.

Pinkie hopped gleefully through the almost deserted streets of Ponyville. The few ponies that she did come across all looked tired and lethargic and clearly were not looking forward to the day ahead. Pinkie shook her head in confusion. She couldn't understand how anypony wouldn't be excited about each new day. After all, there were always new things to do and new friends to make and so much more that each new day provided.

After about a minute, Pinkie Pie opened her eyes, just to make sure that she hadn't gone too far. Lying at her feet was a small red lollipop. She bent down and picked it up, examined it and looked around to see if there was anypony who might have dropped it.

"Hey, did anypony lose a lollipop?"

The only reply that Pinkie Pie got was her own echo and the sound of the breeze whistling through the trees and buildings that surrounded her. Since no one had answered, Pinkie Pie decided that whoever had lost it probably wasn't looking for it. Perhaps it was the universe rewarding her for being such a good friend to everypony! Satisfied that no one was going to miss it, Pinkie Pie popped the lollipop into her mouth.

The flavour was interesting to say the least and not altogether that pleasant. As Pinkie Pie sucked on the lollipop, she began to feel herself getting dizzy and she started to sway from side to side. She tried to take a few more steps, but stumbled to the ground and collapsed in an unconscious pink heap...
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Over at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was already brining in the first cartload of apples of the day. Being a farmer meant that she was always up at the crack of dawn each and every day, ready to work. After emptying her cart into the huge storage barrel in the barn, Applejack trotted back out into the orchard. Harvest season was just begining on the farm, so she had to try and get as many apples as she could just as they turned ripe.

Applejack picked her next tree and looked it up and down before turning around and facing in the opposite direction. Applejack pulled her hind legs in as close to her chest as she could and leaned onto her front legs. When she had finally found her balance, she threw her hind legs out behind her. They collided with the tree with incredible power, making a titanic crashing sound as twigs, leaves and apples were knocked clean out of the tree.

Applejack gathered up all of the apples and dropped them into her cart, making sure to remove any mud, leaves and bits of twig. Applejack worked fast and had cleared another thee trees before she had to bring her haul back into the barn. Once again, Applejack emptied her cart and set off again into the orchard.

But as Applejack was coming out of the barn, the air began to grow colder. Out to the west, an extremely menacing dark cloud was rolling in and it was coming in fast. Applejack barely had time to lock up the barn before she was surrounded in a midnight blue shroud of mist. The mist swirled around the young farm pony, blocking everything else from view. Applejack looked left and right, trying to find a way out of the cloud, but a tall black and blue alicorn blocked her path.

"N-Nightmare Moon!?"

The demonic alicorn laughed maliciously at the fear manifested in Applejack's face, showing off all of her brillant white fangs. The dark blue cloud began to constrict around the two mares and Applejack found herself creeping towards Nightmare Moon. The alicorn stared down at Applejack, her eyes brimming with absolute hatred for the farm pony. She laughed without mirth at the terrified orange form before her.

"You stupid little foal! You didn't think that you could just displace me from that weak minded princess and not suffer any consequences did you? Now, thanks to Discord I have a body of my own instead of having to rely on the services of pathetic weak willed mares!"

Before Applejack was absorbed entirely by the swirling cloud of of sparkling blue shadow, Nightmare Moon forced her to the floor, bending her front knees.

"Yes child, bow to your true ruler..."
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Rainbow Dash glanced at her schedule. Today had to be one that everypony could properly enjoy, so from the break of dawn she had been clearing the clouds from the sky. For some reason the other weather ponies were no where to be found so she had to do the job all by herself.

Not that there was any problem with working alone. Rainbow Dash often felt that the other ponies weren't really pulling their weight effectively. After all, she could clear the sky above Ponyville town square in ten seconds flat, but Cloud Chaser and Great Scott seemed to move like withered old men.

Rainbow Dash flipped around in the air and drove her back right hoof straight through a threatening looking storm cloud, dispersing immediately. Thank Celestia that Derpy wasn't around. Rainbow Dash looked back at her tail, the faint trace of a burn mark was still visible from where she had been struck by lightning.

Rainbow Dash flew underneath a small cloud and burst through it in as dramatic a pose as she could, bowing to the imaginary applause that welled around her. Looking up, Rainbow Dash noticed three black streaks moving across the sky. Sparks of electricity flew from the cloud streams and Rainbow Dash could physically feel the hatred and anger growing inside her. There were only three ponies that she knew of that left smoke trails like those: The Shadow Bolts, agents of Nightmare Moon. Rainbow Dash was still somewhat bitter that she had never been able to get her revenge on them for what they tried to make her do.

Rainbow Dash soared above the cloud line and spotted the dark clad yellow eyed freaks off in the distance. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes and darted forward. As Rainbow Dash got closer to the Shadow Bolts, she began to suspect that something wasn't quite right. The Shadow Bolts appeared not to have noticed her at all. Surely they must have realised that they were being followed by now. Just then, one of the Shadow Bolts dropped out of the sky, falling like a house brick.

Rainbow Dash realised a second to late what was going on. The Shadow Bolts that she was following were not the real Shadow Bolts, they were just decoys. Rainbow Dash wheeled around in mid flight to try warn the others, but a hard blow to the head knocked her out cold and sent her into a free fall...
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When they came to, the six little ponies were standing on what appeared to be a solid black platform. It was difficult to distinguish it from everything else, because they seemed to be stranded in some completely black room. Miraculously, each of the ponies was completely visible to each other so that fact made them feel a little bit better. Fluttershy was already crying, Rarity looked like hell, Pinkie Pie was still swaying and throwing up, Applejack was a quivering wreck and Rainbow Dash was rubbing her head where a rather large bump had appeared. Only Twilight Sparkle seemed to be thinking rationally.

Unfortunately, before she could start comforting her friends, three figures appeared in front of them: The tall serpentine image of Discord, God of Chaos; the deep blue and black shimmering image of Nightmare Moon; and the tattered and torn figure of Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings. Discord stepped forward and began to speak.

"Hello my little ponies! It's been such a long time since we last saw each other, but I have to say I prefer you as scared little pets. I bet you're wondering where you are, aren't you? Well, this is what some of you might call suspended reality, but I call it Home. Or at least, I've had to ever since your darling little Sun Princess trapped me in a block of stone. That's right girls, you're inside my statue!"

Twilight's eyes widened in horror. The idea of Discord's prison was that not even a being as powerful as a god could escape from it. How were six regular ponies supposed to escape? Chrysalis took a few steps forward to continue from where Discord had left off.

"Each of us has some sweet revenge that we would like to enact on you. You ruined my plans for Equestria by meddling with that wedding, you imprisoned Discord in a statue and banished Nightmare Moon from her rightful place. So, thank's to our combined powers, we have worked out a fitting way to punish you for what you have done to us."

Nightmare Moon moved up beside her two allies.
"We have generated a series of duel arenas in this subspace wherein we have placed some of the most ferocious beasts and talented warriors from every possible dimension and have instructed them to kill you."

The six ponies all collectively gasped. They had expected imprisonment, maybe a showdown with their three nemeses, but having to run away from complete strangers whose powers may be completely new to the ponies terrified them all completely.

"But don't fret little dears," Nightmare Moon continued. "There are a few rules to this little game of ours. All you have to do to escape from each arena is to be alive at the end. In short," The demon paused, letting the suspense increase exponentially among her captives. "You have to kill your opponent."

Fluttershy almost fainted. Their whole lives, the six ponies had lived according to a belief in love and tolerance of everyone, regardless of who they were or what they may have done in the past, but now in order to survive, they would have to kill. Twilight Sparkle was finding it harder to breath as the monologue continued.

"There are a few other details that we feel we ought to let you know before throwing you in with the beasts of Tartarus. Every time a battle ends, a portal will open up granting you access either to the outside world or to the next arena. Once you step through that, any damage you may have sustained in your previous duel will be erased, including any limbs you may have lost. Each battle brings you one step closer to your freedom, so if you ever want to see Ponyville again, I suggest that you move swiftly. Remember, we are in a state of suspended reality, so certain rules do not apply. Most notably, you will never get hungry or thirsty nor will you ever grow tired. This means that unless you kill your way to victory, you can be stranded here for an eternity while the world outside moves on without you."

The looks of terror on the faces of the ponies had been replaced by looks of absolute rage. Even Fluttershy was snarling and gnashing her teeth violently. They had no choice in this, they were going to have to become killers if they ever wanted to make it out of here. The group huddled together and readied themselves for the upcoming bloodbaths. Noticing this, Discord laughed and pointed at the ponies.

"What," Discord asked through fits of laughter. "You think we're going to send you in together? Foolish mortals, why would we ever make things that easy for you!? Good luck my little ponies!"

And with that, the six ponies vanished in flashes of white light, separated from each other. Alone and afraid, the ponies readied themselves as much as they could for the upcoming onslaught, but not one of them was certain that they could ever bring themselves to actually kill anyone. As they fought among themselves in their heads, the first wave of their opponents was already hunting them down and high above, three cruel and evil beings watched on in absolute ecstasy.

May the games begin................

Lucy vs Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie rubbed her eyes and looked around her. The scenery had completely changed after that flash of light. Instead of being left in a completely black, lifeless nowhere, she was now stood on a beach with a gorgeous sunset across the ocean. The sun glimmered off of the calm waters and little waves lapped against the pretty pink shells that were dotted about the beach. A few hundred yards away was a large collection of containers and boxes. Pinkie wasn’t certain, but there was something that just seemed wrong about them, something that she didn’t want to know.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie’s left front leg shook uncontrollably. It was her Pinkie Sense kicking in, but she had no idea what that signal meant. Just to be safe, Pinkie Pie hit the floor and rolled off to the side, just as the area of sand where she had been standing previously exploded. There was no loud noise or any fire, but the sand had been blasted in all directions by what appeared to be a physical hit. But there was nothing in the crater left behind. Pinkie Pie felt her leg shake again, and this time she dove forward. Pinkie Pie felt something solid make contact with the end of her tail and as she turned around to face her attacker she saw a small clump of curly pink hair fall to the ground. Something had sliced her tail like a blade.

Stood about two metres away was a strange animal, the likes of which Pinkie Pie had never seen before. It stood on two legs, but had two bizarre appendages that dangled down from its shoulders. The thing had almost no hair, save for a bright pink mane that covered the entire top of the creature’s face. Its eyes stared at Pinkie Pie blankly, its face betraying no emotion at all. It was a strangely dressed being as well, its body was clad in something that vaguely resembled a dress, but it was far too tight and it only went as far as the creature’s thighs. A small bow was tied around the thing’s neck and it wore a soft pink sweater. The stripy socks on the monster’s feet climbed up to just below its knees and it wore a pair of bright red shoes. Before Pinkie Pie had the chance to speak, her leg shuddered again. Pinkie knew well enough now to just trust her instinct and move when she got that signal, so she jumped away from the two legged monster as the sand at her feet exploded again.

Pinkie Pie didn’t want to stay anywhere near the exploding beach, so she picked a direction and ran as fast as she possibly could. A rocky incline offered her some support and she clambered up off of the beach and onto a hard grey surface. Everything about this place was so strange, beaches that explode, buildings that towered higher than even the palace at Canterlot, two legged demons hunting her down and strange soil that was rough to walk on all added to Pinkie Pie’s confusion and terror. She ran down what resembled a road lined with streetlights and ducked behind a building.

Before long, Pinkie Pie’s leg began shaking again and moaning to herself, Pinkie Pie jumped further into the alleyway behind her as the wall beside her opened up in a huge gash. Pinkie Pie looked up and saw the monster standing at the opening of the alleyway. The gentle breeze coming in from the sea blew her hair gently revealing two little white horns protruding from the side of her head.

Pinkie Pie glanced behind her and saw nothing but a huge brick wall. She was completely trapped. She knew that she had to think of something and fast, otherwise she was a goner. Maybe the monster in front of her could become her friend? It was worth a shot.

“Hey, wait.” The monster seemed unfazed. “I’m Pinkie Pie, what’s your name?”
“Lucy.” The creature’s features didn’t shift. There was no befriending this thing clearly.

Pinkie Pie felt her leg shake again and braced herself. At the last second, she jumped in the air and let the force of Lucy’s attack go right beneath her and straight into the wall behind her. Pinkie Pie wheeled around in mid-air and pulled out her party cannon. She was so glad that Twilight had gioven her that magical purse to hold the cannon in, otherwise she would have been carting it around everywhere and that was never much fun. She blasted the now weakened wall at point blank range and watched the whole thing come crumbling down. Putting her cannon away, Pinkie Pie ran as fast as she could to get away from Lucy.

Pinkie Pie ran until she couldn’t go any further. She was absolutely exhausted and her leg was killing her. Her Pinkie Sense could do a real number on her if it kept affecting her continuously. Up ahead there was what looked a bit like a house and Pinkie Pie thought that it would be safer to hide there than to be out in the open. Night was falling fast and she wanted to be as safe as she could be before it got too dark.

The house looked sturdy and secure enough. There was no food in the kitchen and the bedrooms were completely basic, but that didn’t matter to Pinkie. As long as she had shelter and that monster Lucy wasn’t here, she was fine. Still, just to be safe Pinkie Pie liberated the kitchen of one of its knives and tied it to her body using a belt that she had found in one of the upstairs bedrooms. There were several lights all over the house, but Pinkie Pie thought it would be safer if she didn’t turn any of them. After all, that would be tantamount to suicide. A thought occurred to Pinkie Pie that maybe she should prepare for Lucy just in case she did manage to track her down. She raided the kitchen drawers and loaded the party cannon up with forks and knives, making sure that all of them were facing the right way.

Knowing that she was fully prepared, Pinkie Pie went into the corner of the kitchen and hid behind the fridge. Her exhaustion had passed and just like Nightmare Moon had said it would. Pinkie Pie was just as awake and just as alert as she ever had been. Outside, Pinkie Pie thought she heard the strange slow click of Lucy’s shoes on the pavement outside and she held her breath in a vain effort to mask her presence. The sweat ran down Pinkie’s face and her heart beat hard and fast in her chest. Pinkie Pie was certain that Lucy could hear her heart racing away, but there was nothing she could do about that.

After a few moments, Pinkie Pie let herself relax and told herself that all she had heard was the wind. She almost started laughing at herself for being so stupid, but something made her stop. In the normal course of events, the noise that she heard would probably not have even registered in her mind, but in this world the most harmless of noises could mask a monster. Out in the hallway, Pinkie Pie heard the front door handle slowly turn and the door creaked open.

Shivering in terror, Pinkie Pie slowly slid the party canon out in front of herself and readied the fuse. The room was almost pitch black, but Pinkie Pie had been there long enough for her eyes to have adjusted to the poor visibility. A tall figure stepped achingly slowly across the room, but Pinkie Pie couldn’t get a decent aim on Lucy so she didn’t fire the canon. Lucy walked right over to the far side of the room and stood beside the patio door that opened out into the garden. She turned to the right and extended her arm towards the wall.

A small click lit the room up like a candle and all of a sudden Pinkie Pie found herself completely blocked in again and her advantage was gone. How had Lucy known where to find her? Pinkie Pie leapt to her hooves and started aiming the canon at Lucy.

“So this is where you’re hiding is it?”

Lucy’s voice was monotonous, not bored but completely devoid of any emotion at all. Pinkie Pie gulped and refused to answer.

“I guess this just isn’t your lucky day is it? You finally escape me and yet you end up choosing to hide from me in my own house.”

Pinkie Pie’s face blanched of colour and she stood there, her lip quivering and her eyes as wide as she could possibly make them. This wasn’t possible! There was no way that she could have chosen Lucy’s house, that made absolutely no sense! Pinkie Pie finished aiming her party canon and grabbed hold of the fuse with her teeth.

“Go ahead Pinkie, fire away. It’s not like you’ll be able to hit me.”

Pinkie Pie was confused at first, but then everything made sense to her. The beach hadn’t been randomly exploding, it had been Lucy the whole time. Somehow, Lucy could launch attacks without actually moving her body and these attacks were powerful enough to slice through solid rock or smash down a brick wall. But Pinkie Pie realised something else as well. All of the time when Lucy had attacked, she had had to be quite close to Pinkie Pie for her to actually be able to hit her. Pinkie Pie guessed that Lucy needed to be within about two metres of her opponent in order to be able to launch a direct attack against them.

And that’s when Pinkie Pie realised what Lucy was doing. Lucy was too far away to hit Pinkie Pie herself, so she was trying to get Pinkie Pie to fire her party canon and provide the weapons necessary to kill her. Well, there was no way that Pinkie Pie was going to let that happen. She slipped the party canon back into her purse and bolted past the fridge and straight for the door. She was a lot faster than Lucy, so she managed to avoid her attacks and made it out onto the street without a problem.

Behind her, Pinkie Pie heard smashing glass as Lucy launched herself through the big window that looked out onto the street. Under the streetlights the two pink haired combatants faced each other down. Pinkie Pie began formulating a plan in her head as Lucy lifted herself into the air with her power and landed right behind pinkie. Pinkie Pie’s leg shook incredibly violently and she jumped straight in the air. Lucy opened up a gash on Pinkie’s left back leg and hot blood trickled down onto the floor. Pinkie pie howled in pain and landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.

As she was getting up, Pinkie Pie had a flash of genius. Lucy had already let her know that her party canon would be useless, but if Lucy was using her powers to protect herself from the party canon blast, then she would not be able to launch an attack against Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie span around and readied herself for Lucy.

Lucy launched herself into the air and landed with a gentle thump behind Pinkie Pie, but that was alright for Pinkie Pie. She turned the party canon and fired. Lucy caught all of the missiles before they hit, but Pinkie Pie was already following up with her own personal attack. Lucy dropped about a quarter of the weapons that Pinkie had thrown at her and sliced at Pinkie’s head with her power. She made contact with Pinkie Pie’s shoulder and tore her front left leg from her body, but not before Pinkie Pie had thrown the knife that was attached to her hip up into the air. Pinkie Pie threw her left right front hoof forward and slammed the blade of the knife deep between Lucy’s shoulder blades.

Pinkie hit the floor in a bloody three legged mess. She looked over to where her other leg was lying on the floor and almost vomited at the sight of the moist pink flesh surrounding a solid white bone. She rolled over and covered her body I her own blood that was pooling around her, still spilling out of the open wound where her leg used to be. She roared and screeched in pain as she reached across with her right hoof to try and plug the hole and stop the bleeding, but all to no avail.

Lucy however, was in a much worse position. All of the knives and forks had fallen from her grip and landed on the floor with a clatter that only metal can make. She gasped for air as a small trail of blood slid down her chin and dripped onto the floor by her feet. Her arms hung limply from her sides and her knees began to buckle. Her eyes were wide with shock and disbelief as she slowly felt the life seep out of her body. Before too long, her body had given up and her corpse dropped to the floor with a dull thud.

As Pinkie Pie writhed in agony, a circle of white light appeared on the floor beside her. She didn’t notice it at all, but by mistake she rolled into it and fell into a tunnel of beautiful pulsating light. Pinkie Pie stopped howling and looked down at her body. Her leg was back and she wasn’t in pain anymore! At first she thought that she must be dead, but then she remembered that Nightmare Moon had said that when a fight was over any wounds that they had incurred would be healed ready for the next fight. Pinkie Pie smiled childishly. One down, only so many more to go.

Dalek vs Twilight Sparkle

Twilight Sparkle rubbed her eyes and looked around her. Colours still danced across her vision from the brilliance of the light that had engulfed her moments ago. There could be no doubt about it, that was a particularly powerful teleportation spell. Twilight gazed in awe at the incredible location she now found herself in.

She was in a metallic tunnel and the walls and ceiling shimmered with bronze and gold hues. Lines of light twisted and twirled their way along the surfaces, flashing every so often in a steady pulse that gave Twilight the impression that the place was alive. The very walls seemed to hum with energy and bright blue screens lit up the walls even further. For a moment, Twilight Sparkle forgot how scared she was, forgot about what had happened to her and just allowed herself to get lost in the magical labyrinth of gold. Paying no heed to her better judgement, Twilight Sparkle started walking.

The tunnel she was in wound round and round, branching off in several places leading into more tunnels, all of which looked strikingly similar to the one she was currently in. Everything in this place seemed to enchant her and whilst she knew that she should be terrified, she could only feel happiness.

She rounded a corner and came upon a large room. It was decorated in a similar way to the tunnel, but there were different patterns traveling across the ceiling. Silver panels were stuck to tall pillars of pulsating light and the whole place seemed to be roaring with power. Across the room next to one of the blue screens was a relatively small metal structure. It’s base was covered in bronze coloured orbs protruding in steady even lines right the way around it. Further up there appeared to be some form of grille like structure just below a smooth shiny dome, upon which rested two small light bulbs. Twilight Sparkle stared at the statue, admiring the beauty of the craftsmanship.

However, Twilight soon realised that what she was staring at was no statue. The dome on top began to rotate and a long black stalk with a bright blue light was pointing straight towards her. The rest of the body turned with it, revealing what appeared to be some form of whisk and a plunger in the middle of the body. The lights on top of the dome flared up as a harsh metallic voice rang out.

“Intruder detected! You will identify yourself!”

The purple unicorn stopped breathing momentarily. She had no idea how to respond to something like this. Twilight didn’t really know if the thing was dangerous or not. Still, she thought it would perhaps be better to try and prevent any conflict before it started.

“Hello,” she stuttered, still unsure of herself. She tried to make herself sound more convincing, but failed miserably. “My name is Twilight Sparkle, pleased to meet you. What is your name?”

“Daleks have no need for names! Your species has been identified as the primitive Equestrian race of unicorns! You are inferior! You will be exterminated!”

Twilight felt a huge amount of power building up inside the whisk on the front of the Dalek and only just managed to teleport out of the way before a stream of aqua blue laser fire burned past the area she had just been standing in. The blast connected with the wall behind her and exploded in an impressive display of lightning and smoke. The loud crack that resounded through the network of tunnels made Twilight Sparkle actually shudder. Twilight could feel the power building up again in the Dalek’s weapon and she knew not to wait around for that thing to fire again. She teleported herself halfway down one of the hallways and started running.

Pausing only momentarily for breath, Twilight Sparkle tried to come up with a plan. Clearly the Dalek was her opponent in this arena, so she had to find some way of killing it if she wanted to make it out of here alive. Thankfully, it was just a robot this time so Twilight was easily able to rationalise destroying it far more easily. If the Dalek was actually alive then perhaps she would find it more difficult to think in terms of kill or be killed, but that was not an issue. From what she had observed, Twilight had deduced that the Dalek seemed to have only one mode of attack: The blaster attached to the front of it. She had also worked out that the Dalek could only fight if it was looking at her, so that eye stalk on the dome must be it’s only method of aiming. Finally, Twilight had reasoned that the thing could probably only move very slowly. After all, it was a legless hunk of metal with only one eye; there was no way that it could possibly travel at any considerable speed.

Unfortunately, Twilight’s hypothesis on the speed of the Dalek was rather swiftly proven incorrect. A strange whirring sound caught Twilight’s attention and she peered around the corner to check it out, only to see the figure of the Dalek gliding around the corner around which she had just run. Twilight silently cursed and teleported as far away as she could from the almost silent death machine.

“Ok,” Twilight said to herself. “So, it’s a lot faster than I thought. And I can’t do anything to stop it unless I can get rid of that weapon. If I can destroy it’s gun, then maybe I can buy myself a little bit more time.” Twilight began to plan her attack and readied herself for the Dalek’s arrival.

Thankfully, the unicorn didn’t have long to wait before the Dalek found her. The whirring noise once again betrayed the presence of the dome topped android and Twilight took up her position. The first thing she saw was the slowly growing statue of the Dalek as it slid along the hallway towards her. Her heart jolted when the brass body of the Dalek rolled into view. It noticed her immediately and turned to face her.

“Exterminate!”

Twilight was ready for this. She jumped out of the way of the blast and launched one of her own at the Dalek. She caught the robot slightly left of its gun, but that was alright. Twilight watched the sparks fly as her spell unleashed a torrent of energy onto the Dalek’s body. She skidded to a halt and turned to face the Dalek, ready to assess the damage that her attack had imparted onto her foe.

But there was no damage to assess. Twilight had clearly heard her attack making contact with the Dalek, but there wasn’t even so much as a scratch on the brass body of the monster. The Dalek simply span the top half of its body around to face Twilight and fired again. Twilight remembered herself just in time to dodge out of the way of the blast. She rolled across the ground and let two more spells fly out of her horn. Both struck the Dalek hard in the back of the dome, but once again there wasn’t even a scorch mark.

“Exterminate! EXTERMINATE! EX-TER-MIN-ATE!”

Twilight teleported out of the hallway as swiftly as she could. When she reappeared she could hear blast after blast being launched from the Dalek. She kept on teleporting further and further away from the gunfire until she could no longer hear it. She paced up and down in the room where she had first met the Dalek and angrily questioned herself.
“Why didn’t that work? How can I not have damaged it even a little? The thing’s invincible, I can’t take it down. It’s not possible!”

Panting, Twilight returned to her senses and began to think about things logically once again. It was obvious to her now that the Dalek had some form of invisible shield protecting it, otherwise her attacks would have at least marked the body of the Dalek. So she had to find some way past that. But there was one more thing that Twilight thought about. The Dalek had a shield around it, that much was true, but the amount of power required to generate this shield had to keep it fairly close to the metalwork of the Dalek and there were three features of the machine’s body that quite dramatically extended beyond the safety of the shield: The gun, the plunger and the eye stalk. With this new information at hoof, Twilight began to formulate an entirely new plan of attack. So far the Dalek had had the advantage, but now she was about to take that for herself.

Twilight headed down the nearest tunnel she could find and made as much noise as she could while walking. She wasn’t hiding anymore; she was spoiling for a fight. But it seemed that the Dalek didn’t want anything to do with this new challenge. Twilight galloped around as fast as she could, making no effort to mask the clopping of her hooves. She charged through tunnels as she came across them, hoping all the time to come across the Dalek that had been so eager to hunt her down before, but the machine never revealed itself.

Twilight found the room where she had first made contact with her pursuer again and waited in the centre of the room, keeping both eyes and ears open, ready for the beast’s arrival. She waited for an hour, then two, then three, but still the Dalek refused to show itself.

“Come on Dalek, I’m here! You wanted me, here I am! Exterminate me now!”

The unicorn waited for several more minutes, but still nothing happened. Suddenly, she heard the whirring noise again and glanced all around her, checking every single entrance to the arena she had chosen. The sound became louder and louder, but still the Dalek was nowhere to be seen. The noise was almost deafening but still there was no Dalek.

“EX-TER-MIN-ATE!”
Above the unicorn, the Dalek drifted down from the ceiling gently, it’s gun primed and ready, aiming straight for Twilight Sparkle. It fired away, but Twilight was too fast and managed to get out of the way again. She watched the Dalek touch down on the ground again and aim it’s gun. But Twilight was ready for it this time. She thrust her head forward and began to spin her tail around clockwise. Ever since the Changeling invasion at her brother’s wedding, Twilight had known about her Gatling gun spell technique, but this was the first time she had ever been able to test it without the aid of Pinkie Pie. At first nothing happened except that magic began to build up around her horn, but before the Dalek could finish it’s war cry of “EXTERMINATE,” Twilight was firing hundreds of bolts of energy straight at the Dalek. The force of the volley was enough to force the Dalek back, but none of the hits were actually doing any damage.

Until one struck the monsters eye stalk.

Within seconds of firing, Twilight heard the loud, abrasive metallic cry of a blinded Dalek. The blast had not just broken the blue eye piece on the end of the stalk, but had snapped most of it off. The top of the Dalek’s body twisted and span it what could only be described as a display of absolute panic.

“I have been blinded! I cannot see!”

Twilight smiled cruelly to herself and stopped her assault on the Dalek. She trotted gently over to it and saw that she had done a considerable amount of damage to the Dalek’s gun as well, but hadn’t been able to do anything but blind and disarm the robot. Twilight laughed once and kicked the Dalek with her hind legs as hard as she could. The clang resounded all the way around the arena and the Dalek roared in absolute rage at the pony.

“Emergency Protocol One activate! Divert all auxiliary power to weapons and extra sensory detection programmes!”

Twilight gulped as the Dalek turned it’s gun towards her and fired a blast straight into her chest. She flew backwards through the air and slammed into the wall on the far side of the arena. Thankfully, Twilight had done enough damage to the Dalek’s weapon that the blow was not fatal, but it certainly injured her.

Twilight Sparkle staggered to her feet and turned back to face the Dalek, but her breathing was laboured and thin. That blast had done more damage than she had probably anticipated that it would. She couldn’t hold her ground for long, but then again, she didn’t need to. All she needed was a few more seconds so that she could escape. She charged up the magic in her horn and blasted the Dalek three feet backward. The metal monster screeched in its malicious metallic voice as it landed on the ground with a horrible crunch of bending metal. It turned got up and fired at Twilight Sparkle, but it only hit the floor where she used to be.

Several yards down the tunnel, Twilight was propping herself up against a wall and trying desperately to draw more air into her lungs. She could feel the electricity moving through her body, gradually destroying the cells that kept her alive. In about an hour, the damage would be severe enough to kill her. Twilight couldn’t think about that now though. If she could kill the Dalek, she could leave this battlefield and heal herself properly. Now that the Dalek had lowered its shield, there was nothing to stop her magic from smashing clean through the metal plating that surrounded it. It wouldn’t be easy; she’d probably only get one shot at it, but Twilight Sparkle knew how to finish the fight. Using what little amount of magic she could afford, she slowed the spread of the Dalek’s attack and headed back to meet her opponent one final time.

Unable to see or feel, the Dalek had not been able to leave the room where Twilight had left it, but it was clearly enraged. It span all of its components all around its body and blasted shots every few seconds. But when it heard Twilight approaching, it stopped and turned to face her. Blind though it may have been, the Dalek was still incredibly powerful and Twilight knew that one more hit would almost certainly kill her. Twilight had her plan, but she would need a few seconds for it to work. She let a single weak blast fly at the Dalek to disorientate it before she prepared her final attack. The Dalek span around several times as Twilight strafed to the left and began to charge up as much power as she could in her horn. The aura of power grew around her horn larger and larger and larger as the Dalek steadied itself. Twilight cursed under her breath because she wasn’t ready yet, but she couldn’t move or do anything to stop the Dalek from attacking without wasting this chance and Twilight wasn’t sure that she would get another one after this. All she needed was another ten seconds.

“EX……TER……MIN….A-“

Twilight didn’t let the Dalek finish its war cry and fired of one of the most powerful bolts of magic that she had ever created straight at the metal monster. The Dalek exploded with an impressive bang, sending pieces of metal and some weird goo all over the place. Twilight panted and fought to stay standing. Slowly, she crept towards the smoking pile of metallic rubble that used to call itself a Dalek. Inside was weird creamy goo that Twilight couldn’t identify. Before too long, a small round object floated to the surface and Twilight had to stop herself from being physically sick.

There had been something alive inside the Dalek the whole time.

Twilight Sparkle finally understood what the Dalek was. It wasn’t a robot; it was a suit of armour with a real living creature inside. Twilight tried not to think too hard about it, but the fact remained that she had just killed a living thing. Before she could hate herself any more for her act of murder, a portal opened up behind her and she stumbled through.

Toph Beifong vs Rarity

Rarity blinked twice to shake the colours that were dancing across her vision away. Her head hurt and she didn’t quite understand why. She looked at herself, checking for any damage, but she was just as pristine as she had ever been. After taking a few minutes to fix her mane, Rarity took a look around her to get the lie of the land.

All around her were mountains of red and grey, their magnificent peaks soaring into the sky, piercing the clouds and vanishing into them. Thin white clouds swirled and waltzed around the mountains in an intricate dance so beautiful and delicate that only nature could have accomplished it. Rarity considered basing a dress on this design when she got out of this ghastly reality. She decided to take a few steps forward and inspect the world around her a little better.

Rarity gasped as she looked down into a brilliant red stone canyon. The harsh grey rock of the mountain behind her was nowhere to be seen in the wonderland below her. The stone of the canyon seemed to glitter in the sunlight and the rugged walls seemed oddly beautiful for something so harsh as stone. Throughout the canyon were strange protrusions from the ground that reached almost the same height as the walls themselves. Rarity was awestruck by the sight and it took her a few moments to register the existence of someone standing behind her.

Rarity wheeled round and lowered her horn, pretending to be ready for a fight. In fact, Rarity was quaking with fear and was considering just running once her opponent made a move. The being stood before her was very bizarre. It stood on only two legs and was very pale. Its mane had been tied back seemingly to keep it out of the creature’s eyes, but that seemed not to be an issue, as the monster had the same grey glazed over look in her eyes that Rarity’s grandmother had had in her old age as her vision began to fade. The creature was surprisingly well dressed, wearing a basic but flattering green tunic and grey leggings. Her ankles sported several gold anklets, and she travelled barefoot.

“Hi there, I’m Toph the world’s greatest earth-bender.”

Rarity wasn’t entirely surprised that the beast could speak. What did surprise her was the eloquence and arrogance with which she spoke. While Rarity didn’t have a clue what an earth-bender was, this diminutive monster seemed to believe that she was the best and Rarity was beginning to think that Toph was about to give a demonstration.

“So, you’re the little pony I have to take down to get out of this dump then? Well alright then. Sorry about this, but I have to get out of here. Nothing personal.”

Toph stamped on the ground and a huge bolder rose up into the air beside her. Rarity gasped and let her guard completely down as Toph launched her boulder at the dress maker. Rarity lit up her horn and built a small shield around herself, but it wasn’t enough to stop the giant rock from doing some considerable damage. Rarity was thrown backwards into the canyon and landed in a heap on the floor. Thankfully, her impressive strength left her still strong enough to fight back. While she may not have been as talented at magic as Twilight Sparkle, she was still a unicorn and she did still have some talent in the field of magic.

Rarity built a ball of purple magic on her horn and tilted her head down causing the ball to burst. Using magic to maintain her speed and position, Rarity managed to launch herself back up to the cliff edge where Toph was still standing. Thankfully Toph didn’t notice Rarity flying towards her and Rarity’s aim was perfect. She slammed her rear left hoof into Toph’s back, catapulting her forward. Rarity landed on the ground heavily, but she didn’t care. She was enraged, now was the time to fight.

“Take that you ruffian!”

Toph used the earth to bounce herself back up to her feet and turned to face Rarity. She shifted her stance by dragging her foot backwards and raising her hands above her head. She brought her hands down and the rock beneath her feet rolled towards Rarity like a wave with Toph surfing on the top of them. Rarity tried to jump out of the way, but Toph swung her hands to change the direction that the rocks were moving in and managed to smash into Rarity as she landed, knocking both of them to the ground.

Rarity was very confused. How could a little blind girl know exactly where to strike? It made no sense to her. Rarity relit her horn and turned around to begin her next attack run, but Toph was already levitating two more boulders.
“Nice try sugar queen, but I can see every move you’re going to make.”

Toph launched her two boulders at Rarity, but thankfully Rarity had put enough distance herself and Toph that she was able to shoot them both down. Toph didn’t let up though; she kept summoning smaller rocks and firing them at Rarity at high speeds. Rarity began to run, but somehow Toph was able to follow her, always firing just a step or two behind the pony. Rarity still couldn’t understand how Toph could aim so well.

Arity launched herself into the air with a burst of magic and returned fire from above with bolts of magic. Toph didn’t move to defend herself and all of Rarity’s attacks landed perfectly. Unfortunately, Rarity was not entirely well versed in the art of combatant magic, so all of the strikes were comparatively weak and Toph was on her feet again in a matter of seconds.

Rarity understood now. Toph could see Rarity as long as they were both on the ground, somehow the little blind girl was able to see using the earth around her, probably by using the same trick she used to fire rocks into the air and manipulate the ground. So Rarity theorised that as long as one or both of them was in the air, Toph would never be able to see where to aim! But Rarity couldn’t fly and she could only levitate herself for short lengths of time, so being able to keep herself off the ground wo0uld be almost impossible. Equally, in order to get Toph in the air, the action would either have to be voluntary or she would have to get close enough to blast her with magic at point blank range, which would not be easy. As Rarity was still thinking of an idea, Toph had already launched her next attack and had knocked Rarity back into the cavern, before sliding down the wall to join her there.

Rarity got to her feet as quickly as she could, but Toph smashed the ground with her foot, rocketing a new pillar of stone into the air, sending Rarity up with it. The unicorn was launched into the air, but managed to land easily. Unfortunately, Toph had already sent another boulder flying and this one caught Rarity full on. The little white unicorn was thrown off of the pillar with incredible force and only narrowly escaped being crushed by the boulder. Rarity fell to the ground in an undignified heap as Toph hovered another boulder directly above her. Rarity lit up her horn and tried with all of her strength to teleport. She had never really been able to do it before, but now she had to, even if it was just a few feet. She felt the power surrounding her and she rematerialized three feet behind Toph just as the boulder smashed down.

Toph already knew that Rarity had moved and began another onslaught against the unicorn. Rarity barely had time to steady herself as Toph began pummelling her with smaller rocks. Rarity returned fire with as much magic as she could muster, both fighters inflicting minor wounds on their opponent, but nothing life threatening. Rarity was forced back behind a pillar before Toph smashed it down. Rarity rolled out of the way just in time, but was smashed by a large wave of earth from beneath. Rarity saw Toph shift her stance again and bring a wall of earth directly towards her. Rarity examined the rock wall to see if there were any weaknesses that she could manipulate to her advantage. At first she saw nothing and began to panic, but then she noticed something in the ground beside her. Just at the surface was a small glittering patch of crystal.

That was when Rarity realised that she had a new weapon at her disposal. The reason that the canyon had been glittering was because the rock it was made from was filled with little crystals. Toph may be the world’s best earth-bender, but Rarity was the world’s best crystal-bender. Rarity focused on finding all of the crystals in Toph’s rock wall before sending them all flying in a different direction. The wall crumbled a few feet away from Rarity much to Toph’s surprise. Rarity found a large group of crystals in the ground at her feet and used them to build up a boulder beside her. Since Rarity was using magic, she didn’t need to shift her stance, so there was no way that Toph would see what direction the attack was coming from. Rarity hurled her missile at Toph who expertly blocked it.

Toph must have seen where Rarity had removed the rock from and judged the attack from there, but there was definite fear on the small monster’s face. Without a doubt, Toph knew that her earth-bending advantage was now gone. Rarity summoned another boulder, broke it down and fired little pellets of crystal at Toph. Toph brought up a wall to protect herself, but Rarity was relentless and didn’t stop firing until she had brought the wall down. She needed to keep Toph blind to her actions, so she forced shards of crystal up through the ground just beneath Toph’s bare feet. Toph jumped back, but Rarity kept forcing her crystal knives through the ground and eventually, three of them sliced across Toph’s right foot.

Toph howled in rage and pain as she was not only wounded, but actually partially blinded by the attack. She roared curses at Rarity, launching as many attacks as she could at the white unicorn, still being able to judge where she was even if it was only a general position. Rarity avoided most of the attacks, but one slab of rock caught her directly on the side of the head, breaking her nose and knocking a few teeth out of her head.

Rarity staggered behind a pillar as another boulder was hurled in her direction. The boulder smashed into her rump and Rarity felt the snap as her left hind leg broke. She tumbled to the floor and screeched in a most undignified manner. She was furious, terrified, painfully upset but perhaps most importantly she was in a killing mood. Rarity had lost all control of herself and now wanted little more than to kill Toph. As the crashing and booming from Toph’s attacks came to a stop, Rarity realised that she needed a new plan and quickly. Rarity used magic to mask the pain in her leg as she hobbled out from behind the pillar again.

Toph was lying on the floor, down but not beaten. When Rarity came back into her now severely weakened field of vision, Toph slammed her fist on the ground causing a pillar of rock to appear beside Rarity. She threw her only good foot out again and sent a wall of stone straight towards the pony, but she blasted it aside with ease. Rarity observed the next few attacks and each one required Toph to move her hands or feet. That was when Rarity got the idea for her final attack. If Toph lost the use of her hands and feet, then she wouldn’t be able to fight.

Rarity steadied herself and gathered a large volume of crystals around herself. She threw them into the ground as Toph tried to climb back onto her one good foot. Rarity constructed three perfectly straight slabs of rock under the ground and dragged them right below Toph. Before the earth-bender had a chance to react, Rarity forced all three of them up out of the ground. They encircled the trapped child and pinned her arms and legs down. Rarity heard the satisfying crunch of the bones in Toph’s limbs being crushed under the force of her pillars of stone.

Toph wailed in pain and her arms and legs went limp. Tears streamed out of her sightless eyes and down her muddy and bloody face. Toph tried to shift her body into the position where she could bend the earth, but she couldn’t, Rarity was holding her too tightly. Slowly, Rarity pushed the three pillars closer and closer together. Toph roared in agony as the three pillars slowly crushed her body. In one final attempt to break free, Toph threw her head back to try and use her abilities to smash the pillar in her back. But her back bent forward and snapped under the power of Rarity’s attack. The pressure generated by the three pillars coming together crushed most of Toph’s bones as well as doing irreparable damage to many of her internal organs. Toph coughed once, letting a mouthful of blood escape her lips as her body went completely limp. Rarity gave one last push with her attack before retracting the pillars.

Toph’s small body dropped gracelessly to the floor and landed flat on her back, her broken arms and legs splayed out in a jumping jack position. Rarity pulled the ground away from underneath the corpse, letting it fall into the hole left behind before covering it up again. Rarity began to feel the first real pangs of remorse. Toph must have only been a child, she was so small. And she had fought well and honourably. Rarity burst into tears at the thought of the act of pure evil that she had just committed. She saw the portal to her next arena open up in front of her, but before she left she wanted to do what she could to make amends for her vicious murder.

She brought a large number of crystals to the surface of the area where she buried her opponent and etched a few words into an exceptionally large emerald that had appeared:
"Here lies the world's greatest earth-bender, felled before her time."

Rarity limped over to the portal and stepped through, saying one last goodbye to her first victim. As she felt herself healing, she had no idea how she was going to be able to live with herself after she escaped if she had to keep doing things like this.

Katniss Everdeen vs Fluttershy

Fluttershy shivered on the floor, too terrified to open her eyes. There was a ringing in her ears that dimmed all of the sounds of the world around her and for a few moments she could pretend that she was safe in a place of her own, far away from everything that scared her. But Fluttershy couldn’t pretend for long and she soon realised that she had to get moving. She rose to her hooves and opened her eyes. Blinking at the initially dazzling sunlight, Fluttershy began to adjust to the light and looked about her.

She was stood in the middle of a large forest, with trees growing all around her. There were some types that she recognised and others that were completely foreign to her, but all around her she could hear the whistling of birds and the hum of winged insects. Floral scents pervaded her senses and she could see her home in her mind’s eye, with the Everfree Forest right beside it. Many of the smells were the same, although there was something different here. Fluttershy watched a small blue butterfly drift lazily past her and she stared at it as it moved. This place couldn’t be very dangerous at all, could it?

Fluttershy tenderly ventured forward, navigating the dense woodland around her carefully. She trod so lightly that she barely even snapped a twig. Every now and again she heard the erratic thump-thump-thump of a deer running away deep into the forest. The trees were incredibly tall, much higher than any tree she had ever seen before. She wondered how old they were, what animals they housed, what stories they could tell. Fluttershy began to feel oddly at ease, letting herself get lost in the mighty forest that surrounded her. She was used to forests that were much scarier than this one back home, so she had no reason to fear such a kind and gentle looking woodland.

Dangling down from the branch of one of the trees was a rather large wasps nest with wasps the size of Fluttershy’s eye whizzing around it. They didn’t seem to notice the dainty yellow mare, so Fluttershy slowly backed away. Much as she loved animals, that many wasps that she didn’t know might be difficult to reason with. That was one thing that Fluttershy hoped to try at some point. She had no idea how long she would be trapped here, so she thought she might as well try to make a few friends. While it wasn’t strictly true to say that she could talk with animals, for as long as she could remember she could somehow interpret what it was they wanted and she too could make herself understood when needed.

As if on cue, a young deer bounded in front of Fluttershy. Fluttershy yelped and dashed behind the nearest tree, but the inquisitive deer cane and found her. It cocked it’s head to one side and studied the little pegasus in more detail. Fluttershy, who had brought one wing up to hide her face, lowered her wing and smiled shyly at the deer.
“H-Hi, I’m Fl-Fluttershy.”

The deer took a few steps closer to Fluttershy and stared at her somewhat expectantly, as though it was waiting for her to do something.
“Are you lost?”

Again, the deer just stared down at Fluttershy curiously. Fluttershy got back up and slowly tiptoed closer to the deer. The deer backed away a little, but with a few soothing words from Fluttershy, it had begun to step closer again. It lowered its head and Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around its slender neck. The deer nuzzled her gently as she hugged it tightly, smiling happily.
“Are you going to come with me and keep me safe?”

The deer didn’t answer, but Fluttershy surmised that it was not going to leave, so she took its silence as a yes. Shoulder to shoulder, Fluttershy and the deer trotted off into the forest together.

Fluttershy and the deer walked side by side for about half an hour without any problems. Fluttershy had been talking and enjoying the deer’s company and had completely forgotten that her life was in immediate danger. Thankfully, Fluttershy had a keen ability to sense when something was wrong (an ability that she had picked up from her many trips into the Everfree Forest), so she knew that something was off a second before the arrow landed in the tree beside her.

Fluttershy and the deer both yelped in fear and ran off into the forest as hard as they could. The deer was substantially more agile than Fluttershy and as such was able to dodge the trees with impressive ease, but Fluttershy made up for her lack of agility on the ground by taking off and flying just off the ground. As a pegasus, she had much better manoeuvrability in the air, even if she was only a few inches off the ground. She hazarded a glance back as another arrow flew past her head. She screamed and flapped her wings harder.

Fluttershy ducked and dodged her way around the trees, moving as fast as she could while still keeping an eye on the deer. Fluttershy didn’t want to get stuck by an arrow, but it would be even worse if the innocent little deer got hurt because of her. Thankfully, whatever or whoever was chasing them was much slower than the pony and the deer, so they were able to outrun it. Fluttershy found a cave and whistled for the deer to follow her in. At first the deer ignored her, still too panicked to really think properly, but eventually it worked out what Fluttershy wanted it to do.

In the cave, Fluttershy settled the deer down. The poor little thing was terrified out of its wits and Fluttershy spent a few minutes getting it to sleep. She then went outside and found a few birds. They were strange looking, bigger than the birds back home, and they looked like blue mockingbirds, but she thought they seemed safe enough. She sang a sweet little five note phrase to them which they immediately repeated. Fluttershy nodded and stepped back inside the cave, checking that the birds could still hear her and that she could hear them. That was vital.

Fluttershy trotted over to the still terrified little deer and lay down next to it. She gently laid a wing over it and pulled it in close, hugging it and keeping it warm and safe. Fluttershy felt the quivering being lying next to her slowly calm down and drift off to sleep. The deer snored gently and soon Fluttershy began to feel herself drifting off as well. She sang out her phrase and heard the reply from the birds before closing her eyes.

Unfortunately, Fluttershy felt herself jolt awake the second her eyes closed. Turned out she really couldn’t get tired in this existence, so she would have to be awake for every single second of it. It wasn’t a prospect that filled her with much hope, but there was nothing that she could do about it. Fluttershy made herself as comfortable as she and rested sleeplessly, holding the deer tightly.

As dawn broke over the forest, Fluttershy felt the warmth of the sun creep in through the mouth of the cave and fill the area with a calming aura of heat. Being careful not to wake her bedfellow, Fluttershy tiptoed to the mouth of the cave. She whistled her little phrase and waited for the birds to reply. But only silence greeted her. Fluttershy panicked and whistled again, but as before her echo was the only reply that she got. She dashed back into the cave, waking the deer in the process. The two huddled together by the wall as Fluttershy kept her ears open, waiting for any sound that might confirm their safety or their doom.

At first, silence deafened Fluttershy. A dull ringing was in her ears, but that was simply because she was so terrified. But then she heard something else. It wasn’t a loud noise, but it was one that terrified Fluttershy to her core. It was the gentle creak of a thin stick of wood being bent.

Fluttershy threw the deer to the ground just as an arrow slammed into the wall behind them, snapping the shaft. The deer snorted and charged out of the cave as fast as it could go. Fluttershy turned and saw their attacker properly for the first time. She walked on two legs, was almost completely hairless except for an untidy brown mane that was tied up and fell down one side of her face in a braid. She was quite pretty, but Fluttershy didn’t really care about that. In her hand was a large bow, much larger than any Fluttershy had ever seen before and at her hip was a quiver full of arrows.

“Wait!” Fluttershy was unaccustomed to shouting, so the noise came out as more of a squeak, but the effect was still the same. The monster (who had been reaching for another arrow) stopped and looked at Fluttershy quizzically. “Please, let me go. I don’t want to hurt you.” The monster didn’t move. “If-If you want, we could be friends? I’m Fluttershy.”

The little yellow pegasus barely managed to introduce herself in more than a whisper. The monster’s hand didn’t stray from her quiver, but she did grace Fluttershy with a reply. She coughed once to clear her throat and spoke.
“I’m Katniss. And I’m sorry Fluttershy, but this isn’t the first time where I’ve had to kill in this arena. I learned last time that having friends here only hurts, so I am sorry, but I am going to have to decline your offer.”

With that, Katniss reached for her arrows, but Fluttershy was too fast for her. Fluttershy barrelled into Katniss, knocking her over and removing many of the arrows from the quiver. Tears streaming down her face, Fluttershy flew as hard as she could through the gaping mouth of the cave into the forest. She didn’t check whether Katniss was following her, she just flew. The deer came into her mind momentarily, but even Fluttershy wasn’t willing to risk trying to find the deer before she made sure that Katniss was gone. After several minutes of some of the hardest flying that Fluttershy had done in years, the little yellow mare collapsed on the ground. She leaned against a tree for support and let her eyes close momentarily.

But before she was able to fall asleep, her senses were sharpened again by the effects of the arena. Fluttershy lay by the tree for another ten minutes, just catching her breath, letting the world pass before her. She was going to die, here in this strange forest at the hands of someone she didn’t even know. A tear formed in her eye as she tried to pretend it wasn’t happening. Fluttershy wanted to go home, to be with her friends. She wanted to just open her eyes and realise that this was all one big dream. But it was all too real.

A twig snapped behind her and the yellow pegasus pressed herself against the tree, holding her breath so as not to alert Katniss as to where she was. Katniss walked slowly back and forth, sniffing the air to try and find her prey. She came closer and closer and closer, while Fluttershy began to consider running for it again. Suddenly, a little brown head popped around the tree and stared straight into the face of the terrified pony. Fluttershy masked a shriek with her hoof, but quickly calmed down as the deer leaned forward and licked her face. It hadn’t been that monster Katniss at all; it had just been the deer. Fluttershy hugged the deer and the two of them began to trot off into the forest. It was too dangerous to stay in the same place for too long.

Night fell ridiculously quickly and soon Fluttershy and the deer were completely immersed in the darkness. Fluttershy was a little bit scared, but she could see quite well in the dark. Living on the border of the Everfree Forest did have its perks sometimes. The two of them stopped in a clearing and decided to spend the rest of the night there. After making sure the deer was comfortable, Fluttershy went out to try and find some food for the little animal. She may not get hungry, but she could hear the deer’s stomach rumbling throughout the afternoon. She wouldn’t be too long.

A few minutes later she returned with a bushel of berries to give to her friend. She stepped towards the fire and let them down, beckoning the deer to come over. But she stopped suddenly and tried not to scream.
She hadn’t made a fire.

Across the flames, a hooded figure was busying itself next to the tree where Fluttershy had left the deer. A little red stream flowed towards the yellow mare and she began to understand what had happened. She could feel fear and rage building up in her body in equal measure as Katniss stood up and turned to face her. The deer had two arrows sticking out of its side and there was a deep stab wound in its chest. A glistening crimson pool was forming around the little critter and its lifeless eyes reflected the flames mixed with the fear it felt as it died.

“Ah, you’re here then are you?” Katniss reached for her quiver again and began to notch and arrow into her bow. But Fluttershy wasn’t scared anymore. Something inside her had snapped and the cruel beast in front of her had to be brought to justice.

Fluttershy launched herself towards Katniss as fast as she could and smashed straight into the human, knocking the bow out of her hand and breaking one of her ribs. Fluttershy smacked Katniss backwards with her front hooves, howling in rage and tears of pure blind fury flowing down her face. Katniss was unable to protect herself and she fell backwards, several bones already broken. Fluttershy landed, span around and slammed her two hind hooves into Katniss’ face time after time. For several seconds, Fluttershy smashed her hooves into Katniss head until she regained control. Her breathing was deep and raspy, her legs ached and there was a cut on her leg that wasn’t there before. But what terrified her more than anything was what she had done to Katniss.

Katniss’ skull had caved in after the first kick, but every subsequent hit had reduced Katniss’ head to little more than a deep red pulp. A dark smear with splatter stains all around it was stuck to the tree like a scar and Fluttershy was bathed in the blood of her fallen enemy. She was ashamed and terrified of herself. Of what she had done. She began to back away from the scene slowly and fell backwards into the portal that had opened behind her.

Predator vs Applejack

Applejack stumbled through the jungle, forcing her way through the tentacle-esque vines and branches that snatched at her legs every few steps. The air was hot, thick and humid, plastering her mane to her forehead and causing her tail to droop to the floor. The sun dappled forest floor seemed to buzz, a sensation that the deafening roar of thousands of insects surrounding her exacerbated. A large mosquito landed on her flank, causing Applejack to jump with shock as the long thin mouth piece pierced her solid flesh. Batting the insect away with her tail, Applejack stopped walking. Clearly just picking a direction and heading off had been the wrong option.

Taking a minute to make herself a bit more comfortable, Applejack sat down and tried to formulate a plan. What did she know so far? She was in a jungle and somewhere hidden in the trees around her someone or something was trying to kill her. She also knew that if she wanted to escape and see her friends again, she would just have to kill that thing first. Applejack let out a deep sigh and tried to get herself into a fighting frame of mind. Just like the pony pioneers who had to defend their lands and families from timberwolves, she was now going to have to fight for her friends.

In the distance, Applejack could hear a waterfall emptying itself into a pool of water. The orange mare got up and started trotting towards the sound, desperately need of a drink. When she got to the pool, she could see just how large it really was, it was more like a small lake. She took of her hat and laid her rope down by a rock before stepping into the warm clear water. A shiver of pleasure shot up her body as she immersed herself with the water, taking a few moments to enjoy herself. It was delightfully refreshing despite the temperature. Little fish swam around Applejack while the chorus of insects and wild birds resounded overhead. The pool was thunderously loud due to the waterfall, but it seemed to be a peaceful place none the less. Around the periphery the pool was little more than a foot deep, but the middle was almost black it was so deep. Applejack let herself drift around gently, assisting the water only every so often. She let herself take in these moments, because she was going to have to start hunting soon.

Suddenly, Applejack’s eyes flew open. She frantically searched the area around her, almost sinking in the process, but she saw nothing. Her head now fully above the water, Applejack canned the jungle with her eyes and ears, checking for anything strange, but still she saw nothing and heard nothing.

But there could be no doubt, there was definitely something out there. The farm pony could feel its eyes drinking her in, observing every element of her being, waiting for just the right moment to strike.

That was when she saw it, little more than a shadow gliding across the edge of the pool with incredible speed. The jungle shimmered behind it, only vaguely revealing where the beast was. Applejack followed it as far as she could with her eyes, but the vision vanished into the undergrowth too quickly. Not satisfied that she had avoided the monster, Applejack swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out. Putting her hat back on, Applejack heard a soft clicking noise amid the din of birds and bugs. Relying solely on her instincts, Applejack crouched close to the ground and leaned heavily to the right. A millisecond later she felt something rush past her head and slam into the rock right beside her.

Before her eyes a long spear materialised, the camouflage fading away revealing a solid shaft that still vibrated a little from the force of the impact. Applejack tried to find her attacker but the world around her was completely still. Behind her, Applejack could hear a faint whirring sound and she jumped out of the just in time as a large disk hummed past her cheek. While she didn’t really have the time to analyse the finer details of the disk, she knew that the thing had a blade and that made it very dangerous.

Applejack landed in time to see the disk spin around in mid-air and buzz off back towards the trees. Without even thinking, Applejack span around and kicked a large stone in the same direction as the disk. She heard the clang of something hard striking metal followed by a satisfying thud as her opponent fell from its perch onto the solid ground beneath. Applejack smiled and turned around to grab her rope. A loud popping noise stopped her and she fell to the ground, covering her head with her hooves as a ball of blue light flew over her head. The ball hit the water of the pool, sending a cascade of boiling liquid high into the sky. Applejack turned around and saw the shimmering figure of her enemy walking slowly towards her. It was almost completely invisible, bending the shape of the jungle behind it to blend in. Without warning, it bolted forward with incalculable speed. Applejack tried to dodge, but she wasn’t fast enough this time and a large red wound opened up in her leg. Applejack lashed out with her remaining uninjured hind leg and sent the creature flying towards the water behind her. The skin that she made contact with felt thick and leathery, but it was softer than Applejack had imagined it would be.

The pony hit the ground ungracefully with a dull thud. Slowly, she got up and turned towards the pool where her opponent had landed. Initially, nothing happened, but then like a sea monster from one of Granny Smith’s stories, the creature rose up out of the water. Like the spear it had thrown earlier, the monsters façade began to melt away, revealing a tall and impressively built predator. Its face was hidden behind a thick, unmarked metal mask with a slight bulge where the creature’s mouth presumably was. Tendrils of what resembled hair hung down in braids from the beasts head. Its arms were the same size as a pair of barrels and its torso was a mess of muscles, glistening in the midday sun. Its hands were clenched into fists with a pair of nine-inch blades protruding from each hand. A small black cylinder buzzed and twitched on the monsters right shoulder. Seemingly frustrated with the device, the beast reached up and crushed it in his fist before discarding the crumpled mess of metal into the pool. Aside from the mask and a thick leather loin cloth around its waist, the thing appeared to be completely naked.

Applejack took her rope and stared down at her opponent. Neither of them moved for a few minutes, they just stood there waiting for the other one to make the first move. The monster raised its claws up to its mask and hissed menacingly. Swift as the wind, the monster lunged at Applejack with its claws extended. The farm pony tossed her rope, catching the creature around the ankle. Her opponent stumbled and crashed to the ground, striking its head on a large rock. As it stood back up, Applejack noticed that one of the eye holes in the mask was seriously damaged. She wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so she cast out her rope again and wrapped it around the creature’s neck. With a single tug, she brought the thing back down to its knees.

But before she could do anything else, the monster swung its arms around in front of its body. The blades on its fists sliced through the rope like a warm knife gliding through butter. As the little pieces of what had once been Applejack’s rope drifted gently to the ground, the creature placed its hands either side of its head and unclipped some of the tendrils that were holding the damaged mask in place. The creature grabbed its mask and pulled it away from its face, revealing the grotesque animal within. The mouth was abhorrently hideous with four pincers protruding from what vaguely resembled lips at odd angles. The lower jaw seemed covered in a thin flap of skin rather than an actual lip and two rows of teeth that could rival a timberwolf’s glistened with saliva. Two grey beady eyes glared at Applejack, hatred pouring out of them like a waterfall. The sheer desire to kill in the monsters face was almost enough to make Applejack run screaming into the jungle. The pincers around its mouth separated and the beast let out an almighty roar that shook the jungle.

Without giving her time to react, the beast threw itself at Applejack, driving one set of claws deep into her flank. The orange mare bellowed in agony and fury as the smooth claw retracted from her flesh. Her adversary lashed around again with the other arm, but Applejack managed to roll out of the way. She lashed out with her remaining uninjured leg and smashed the monster right in the back of the knee, causing it to stumble and almost fall.

Enraged, the beast span around and sent its right hand towards Applejack. The mare could only shuffle backwards just enough to avoid being impaled by the alien in front of her. However, as the first set of claws made contact with the earth, the second fist was already flying towards Applejack’s face. Applejack managed to keep shuffling backwards, leaving a trail of blood from her wound as fist after fist narrowly missed her body. Suddenly, she felt water on her mane and realised that she had hit the pool. She couldn’t go much further back without drowning. The ultimate predator before her raised both of its arms above its head and almost seemed to smile at Applejack before throwing its arms down again towards her.

Applejack had no time to think, she just knew she had to do something to avoid being filleted. In a last ditch effort to save her life, Applejack struck with her front hoof in the hopes of knocking the monster off balance. By some miracle, her attack struck the beast on one of its arms. Applejack heard the sharp crack of a bone breaking and smiled. The broken arm slid across the monster body, colliding with the remaining good arm. As the blades slid into the monster flesh, Applejack was splattered with foul luminescent green liquid. There was a loud splash as one of the creatures arms landed heavily in the water beside Applejack’s head, no longer attached to the body.

The monster let out a horrified roar as it registered the loss of one arm and the uselessness of the other. It stumbled forward and fell face first into the water. Applejack wasted no time in rolling over onto the beasts back and forcing its head under the water completely with her front legs. The monster writhed and thrashed as it tried to displace the orange mare, but without the use of its arms, it couldn’t shake her off. Eventually, the creatures body went limp and stopped moving.

Applejack didn’t move immediately, wanting to be certain that the monster was in fact dead. But when she was satisfied that she had one, she hobbled off of the muscular back and limped onto the shore. Waiting for her on dry land were three more monsters that looked almost identical to the one she had just killed. Absolute terror filled her senses, she had only just been able to defeat one, now there were another three and she was still injured. One of the creatures glanced from the corpse in the water to Applejack and back again. It reached for something on its belt, a long chain with a crescent moon shaped blade on one end. She shut her eyes and waited for death, allowing a tear to roll down her cheek. She was surprised to hear the clank of metal in front of her. Opening her eyes, she realised that the monster had dropped the chain at her hooves and had gone over with the others to retrieve the body of their kinsman. Applejack saw the portal open in front of her and grabbed the chain in her mouth before limping into the light to face her next ordeal.

Pikachu vs Rainbow Dash

Rainbow Dash glided effortlessly across the sky, drinking in as much information as she could. Rainbow was a loyal friend and right now the other five needed her.

“I don’t care what it takes,” she muttered to herself. “I have to help my friends, whatever the cost. I’ll fight for them, kill if I have to, but I will find them.”

Dotted about on the ground below her were several small towns with what appeared to be people bustling about their daily lives. Between each town were large expanses of woodland with lots of different roads constructed to connect each town. Even from her height, Rainbow Dash could discern areas of tall grass scattered randomly throughout the countryside.

Rainbow Dash set herself down gently in a clearing and began to think about her plan of action. There could be all manner of ponies and monsters here, so which one was her opponent? A flock of bizarre looking birds soared overhead, letting out weird screeches that made Rainbow Dash cover her ears and grimace. The animals here were not the kind that Rainbow Dash would ever want to have anything to do with again, the sooner she could get out of here the better.

In the long grass behind her, Rainbow Dash could hear something rustling away. She turned and took a few steps back, preparing herself to fight. She was the type of pony who could kick a dragon in the face and live to tell the tale, so there was nothing that this world could throw at her that she wouldn’t be able to overcome. The rustling came closer and closer as she dug her hooves into the ground. She arched her back, leant forward and extended her wings, ready to pounce on whatever came to face her. A single bead of sweat ran down her face and dropped off the end of her nose as she waited for her opponent to emerge. At least, she assumed that whatever beast or warrior would emerge would be her designated foe. She wasn’t really sure, but she felt it better to treat everything as a sign of the impending duel. Suddenly, the grass in front of her eyes shook violently and a wild yellow blur appeared.

Rainbow hesitated for just a second, but it was enough for her to register the tiny yellow mouse sitting on the floor in front of her. She looked at it for a few seconds, not sure what to think, but eventually she started laughing to herself, folded her wings and relaxed a little. The little creature was absolutely adorable! It had big bright red rosy cheeks and it’s tiny body was a disarming shade of yellow, mixed with a few stripes of brown here and there. Its jagged brown and yellow tail bounced slightly as it shifted its position and its tiny paws hung by its side. The creature lifted up a little paw and scratched behind it’s huge black and white ears, smiling contently as it did so.
“Pika!” the creature said cheerfully, clearly oblivious to the rainbow coloured pony standing little more than five feet away.

Rainbow Dash felt her heart jump a little bit at the unadulterated adorableness of the creature before her and though she would never admit it, she did allow a little d’aww to escape her lips. Rainbow Dash’s involuntary exclamation alerted the creature to her existence and it eyed her cautiously.
“Pika? Pikachu.”

Rainbow Dash didn’t want to scare the thing, but she wanted to let it know that she was friendly, so she took a few tentative steps forward. The yellow mouse noticed this and mirrored her actions in the opposite direction, taking a few steps away from the advancing pony. After a few steps, the creature let out a noise that sounded almost like a growl, trying to warn Rainbow Dash to stay away. But Rainbow Dash was adamant that this little animal should know that she meant it no harm, so she kept taking steps forward.

As she moved closer to the creature, Rainbow Dash began to experience a bizarre sensation. As a weather pony, Rainbow Dash knew how it felt when there was static electricity in the air, such as there is immediately before a thunderstorm, so it was peculiar to feel this on the ground when there wasn’t a cloud in sight. She looked at the little animal (who she had decided to call Pikachu, considering that was all it ever seemed to say), and noticed that the static electricity was coming from it. Little sparks were appearing on the cheeks of Pikachu and Rainbow Dash chose to edge backwards. There was something not right about this little mouse creature.

“Pi…ka…CHU!”

The Pikachu released a volley of lightning straight at the rainbow maned mare. Rainbow Dash dodged to the side, but not even she was fast enough to outrun lightning. She took a hit to the side and was launched several feet backwards. Her body dragged along the ground until she came to a halt. Shaking her head, she got back up onto her hooves just in time to see Pikachu bat a ball of lightning at her with its tail. This time though, the attack was much slower and Rainbow Dash had time to duck out of the way. She lowered her head and her eyebrows came down slightly, glaring at Pikachu. She flapped her wings and took off straight toward the mouse. One way or another, she was going to put this creature underground.

Rainbow Dash tackled Pikachu to the ground, rolled over and kicked it into the air. Pikachu yelped as it twisted in the air, before forcing itself into a flip as its tail began to glow. It became clear that Pikachu was going in for another attack, so Rainbow Dash strafed to the left just as Pikachu smashed its iron tail into the ground with a heavy thud. The earth shook slightly, knocking Rainbow Dash off balance for a millisecond, but she recovered quickly and kicked Pikachu with as much force as she could. The tiny monster was knocked a few yards away by the force of the attack, but it got right back up. Wiping away the little stream of blood that was running down its chin, Pikachu stared right at Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash threw herself at Pikachu again. Pikachu charged another electroball and hurled it at Rainbow Dash. She didn’t have time to dodge this one, so she took it right in the face. But aside from stinging a little bit, the attack wasn’t very effective. It did, however, force her to close her eyes until they stopped stinging, and when she opened them again Pikachu was not in front of her any more. She glanced in every direction she could but she couldn’t find the little devil.

“Pi…ka…CHU!”

The cry had come from above, and before Rainbow Dash could move out of the way, Pikachu smashed is iron tail directly onto the back of the pegasus. She slammed into the ground, feeling all of the air in her lungs be instantly expelled by the force of the blow. Without hesitation, Pikachu blasted Rainbow Dash with a barrage of lightning. Rainbow Dash couldn’t even scream as she was sent hurtling through the air, her body being cooked by the electricity being forced into her body. She hurtled across the arena, landing ungracefully with a dull thud on the other side of the clearing.

For several moments, Rainbow Dash couldn’t even catch her breath. She lay on her side, her breathing irregular and raspy as sparks shot off from her mane. As the final effects of the thundershock wore off, Rainbow Dash struggled to get to her hooves again. First time she tried, she fell down again almost instantly. The second time, she managed to stand for a few seconds before collapsing again. Forcing herself to try again, Rainbow Dash realised that she needed to find a way to kill this thing and quickly. There was no way that she was going to survive another hit like that.

She checked her wings and both of them seemed to be in full working order. The worst of the effects of the thundershock were wearing off, and Rainbow Dash was able to stand up straight again. She was fairly sure that she could walk or run, but flying was definitely a better option for now at least. As she turned around, she saw Pikachu on all fours, glowering at her. There was a considerable bit of distance between them and Rainbow Dash wondered how such a little monster could be such a pain in the neck. Pikachu interrupted Rainbow Dash’s train of thought by lowering its head and charging. A bright aura of lightning built up around Pikachu as it moved with impressive speed towards Rainbow Dash.

“Pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika pika PIKA!”

It was now or never, and as Rainbow Dash began to formulate a plan, she launched herself toward the little yellow mouse. Flapping her wings, Rainbow Dash hurtled toward Pikachu at almost her top speed. Hopefully, a Buccaneer Blaze would have more power behind it than the attack that Pikachu was using, which would mean that Rainbow Dash’s two step attack would succeed. Both combatants flew at each other, travelling at nigh impossible speeds and both of them intent on destroying each other in the next attack. Rainbow Dash pooled her energy and prepared her body for the attack. This Buccaneer Blaze would require more power and focus than any previous one, because she was attempting to weaponise it this time.

The two fighters collided in the air with incredible force, Rainbow Dash’s blue aura and Pikachu’s yellow one were the only things that prevented the two of them from smashing head first into each other. Rainbow Dash opened up her mind and body, receiving power from Pikachu’s attack and letting it flood her senses. This was a technique that she had learned several years ago and it allowed her to perform her most captivating routines. Lightning ensnared her senses and she became awash with power. She shut her eyes momentarily and allowed herself to visualise her Buccaneer Blaze, where her legs should be positioned and where her wings should be. She threw herself up and released her attack.

The blue aura that had accumulated around her dispersed in a huge explosion, tripling in size within the blink of an eye.. With tremendous force, Pikachu’s electrical aura dissipated and the tiny mouse was launched several yards into the air. Rainbow Dash unleashed the full force of her Buccaneer Blaze generating almost immeasurable amounts of energy. Her very body seemed to hum with the force being generated by the ferocity of her attack. The now airborne Pikachu was fully enveloped in the blue explosion, the forces holding its body together slowly being pulled apart by the force of Rainbow Dash’s attack. When the cyan pegasus had released all of her power, she let herself down gently, unsteadily standing on the ground.

“HA! I’m number one again.”

She looked around for her opponent, but Pikachu was nowhere to be found. She took a few steps forward and felt her hoof land in something wet. It was red and sticky and smelled metallic. At first Rainbow Dash didn’t know what the liquid was. It hadn’t been there before. But floating in a larger puddle of the liquid was a torn piece of skin with dirty brown and yellow fur. Rainbow Dash shrieked as she realised that the reason she couldn’t see Pikachu was because she was standing IN Pikachu. The force of her Buccaneer Blaze had shredded the poor creature’s body to the point where it had exploded. Rainbow Dash had known that she was going to kill Pikachu, but she hadn’t intended to be so brutal about it. Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but wonder if the little guy had been conscious as its body was torn apart. The very thought of it made Rainbow Dash vomit violently. Beside her a portal opened up. With regret heavy in her heart, she stepped through and prepared herself to face the next opponent that awaited her.

Taokaka vs Pinkie Pie

Pinkie Pie stepped out of the portal and took a few moments to check out the leg that she had lost in her battle with Lucy. There was no evidence to suggest that anything had ever happened to it, much less that it had been torn off and regrown completely. She stretched it out and wiggled it a little, testing all the muscles and making sure that they were all working properly. Aside from a slight tingling sensation, everything appeared to be in full working order. Satisfied that her leg was not going to spontaneously fall off, Pinkie Pie took the time to take stock of her surroundings.

This arena resembled part of a large city, with titanic constructs of concrete and glass piercing the blackened evening sky. Crow black clouds drifted aimlessly, blotting out the stars and Pinkie Pie had difficulty ascertaining whether or not they were truly clouds or smoke. All around her, darkened shop windows glared at Pinkie Pie as she tried desperately to remember her song about giggling at the ghosties. Judging by the volume of bars and greasy restaurants, Pinky assumed that she wasn’t in the most glamorous area.

From the roof of one of the smaller buildings, a hooded figure leaped down onto the pavement in front of Pinkie Pie. As the creature stood upright and straightened itself out, Pinkie got herself into a position where she could run away easily. The creature was shorter than Lucy had been, and it wore a light beige hood that obscured its face almost entirely.Two blonde braided pigtails hung loosely from bronze ringlets inlaid into the hood. The arms were very long, much longer than Lucy’s had been, and they were shielded by sleeves that seemed to end in a giant bulbous cats paw at the end of each arm. The creature’s legs were skinny, tanned and almost entirely bare except for the feet which were encased in boots that resembled cat like paws. The hood itself sported two large orange cat ears that had apparently been sewn onto the back of the costume. But what actually scared Pinkie Pie was the monster’s face. The face was almost completely hidden by the hood, but in the darkness two piercing red eyes and a row of glistening sharp teeth glinted at Pinkie Pie, causing her to flinch involuntarily.

“Hi there Pretty Pony, I’m Tao!”

The high pitched voice assaulted Pinkie Pie’s ears in a manner that wasn’t entirely unpleasant. The voice and attitude betrayed the mind of a naive young girl and the more Pinkie Pie stared at her would-be opponent, the less menacing she appeared.

“Got anything to eat?”

Pinkie Pie arched her eyebrows at Tao. She was slightly perturbed at the prospect of this near perfect stranger whom she still didn’t entirely trust asking her for food. She hadn’t even asked Pinkie her name yet and she somehow felt it was appropriate to ask for food? Pinkie Pie, still more confused than usual, shook her head slowly. Tao’s shiny white smile flipped into a depressing frown and her red eyes seemed to alter shape letting an image of total distress overcome the hyperactive young girl. Pinkie Pie couldn’t help but take pity on the girl, so she tentatively trotted over and gently placed a hoof on her back. She glanced around and saw a flickering neon sign that read “pizza.” Pinkie Pie subtly pointed it out and Tao squeeled with absolute delight, picked up the pink pony and bolted for the door.

Inside, Taokaka and Pinkie Pie shared a cheese pizza, joking and laughing through their stories about life back home. Taokaka told Pinkie about the Kaka tribe and someone called the Boobie Lady. Tao listened intently to Pinkie Pie’s tales about life in Equestria with her friends and various events in her life. As the last slice of pizza vanished down Taokaka’s throat, a chill filled the air. The pizza parlour disintegrated, replaced by the cold darkness of Discord’s suspended reality.

Malevolent laughter rang out, reverberating off of non-existent walls. A dull, masculine presence slipped into the dimension, filling both Pinkie and Taokaka’s senses with a feeling of utter chaos. Before them, the twisting dragonesque image of Discord materialised.

“Well hello there ladies, I’m glad to see you both getting on so well. Well,” Discord recanted, “maybe not THAT glad.”

The serpentine chaos god coiled himself around Taokaka’s slender body. He rested his head on her shoulder, making her squirm uncomfortably. He smiled devilishly at Pinkie Pie, licking his singular fang with a glint in his eye alerting her to an evil scheme that he was about to put in motion.

“Let me see if I can’t break up this happy little friendship now. After all, you probably think that miss Pinkie Pie over there is just a nice little pony, correct? but do not be deceived by her appearance. Inside that adorable little form is the heart and mind of a cold blooded killer.”

He extended his taloned arm, opening a screen in front of Taokaka’s face. On it played a clearly doctored video of Pinkie Pie’s duel with Lucy. However, instead of the brutal conflict that had really transpired, with Pinkie Pie desperately fighting for her life, Taokaka was shown Pinkie Pie viciously beating down a defenceless young Lucy before plunging a knife into her back, laughing maniacally.

Pinkie Pie was so shocked by the blatant lies that Discord had implanted in Taokaka’s head that she was momentarily dumbstruck. As the pizza parlour rematerialised around her and she found herself once again sat beside Taokaka, Pinkie Pie tried to open her mouth to speak, but Tao interrupted. She spoke softly, barely above a whisper, but there was real anger and hurt in her voice.

“You’re not a pretty pony.” Taokaka began to physically shake with rage. “You’re a mean, nasty pony. A bad pony.”

Pinkie Pie shook her head furiously and opened her mouth to try and explain herself, but Taokaka didn’t let her. The cat girl placed both of her paws on the table and swung around slamming her feet into Pinkie Pie’s face before her Pinkie Sense had a chance to kick in. Pinkie Pie was launched through the window and into the wall on the opposite side of the street. The rain started to fall all around her as she got to her hooves, bruised from her encounter with the window and dizzy from the kick.

Taokaka was standing by the broken window, a look of absolute fury occupying what features of her face Pinkie Pie could see. From her paws, six long claw like blades extended, glinting in the light of the few street lamps. She stepped forward, forcing Pinkie Pie into a defensive stance.

Pinkie Pie was absolutely terrified by the horrific change in character before her. Taokaka wasn’t happy and playful any more. The little cat girl was a rabid and violent killer. Pinkie’s shoulder spasmed slightly, letting her know that Taokaka was planning to use those claws in an attack. She watched as Tao leapt at her, clearing the distance between them in a single leap. She brought her claws down and Pinkie Pie barely managed to sidestep out of the way. Her shoulder spasmed again as Taokaka sent her left paw sailing towards Pinkie Pie’s face. The pony ducked only to have her Pinkie Sense alert her that Taokaka was about to attack again. The cat girl was incredibly quick and Pinkie Pie was getting scratches all over her body where she managed to just dodge out of the way. As she stepped backwards to avoid Tao’s blades, Pinkie Pies reared up on her hind legs and struck out with her front hooves, thumping an unsuspecting Taokaka hard in the chest.

Not waiting around for the cat girl to recover, Pinkie Pie turned and ran. However, before she had taken more than three steps, her whole body shook violently. Turning around, Pinkie Pie saw Taokaka hurtling towards her, claws extended. She had no time to react, no time to think, before the slender blades in Taokaka’s paws slipped into her flesh. The claws dug into the soft meat under Pinkie Pie’s shoulder, shallow enough to miss any vital organs, but deep enough to make Pinkie bleed heavily. Taokaka stepped forward and lifted her arms, hoisting Pinkie Pie into the air. She retracted her blades to launch Pinkie Pie skyward, flipped upside down and fired a two footed kick straight up in the air to keep Pinkie Pie airborne.

Pinkie Pie squealed with pain as her body contorted in the air. She opened her eyes long enough to see Taokaka below her. But the cat girl no longer had claws sticking out of her paws. Instead, they had been replaced by tall saws, humming as they whirred around. Pinkie Pie was certain that if she hit them it would be the end of her. Forcing the pain to the back of her mind, she managed to rotate herself so that her hind quarters were aiming towards the spinning blades below. She tried to think back to her time at the lake with Rainbow Dash, just before the unfortunate incident with the mirror pool. She focused and tried to recreate that moment in her mind, attempting to recreate the trick she pulled there. As she focused, she felt herself slow down immensely. Opening her eyes, Pinkie Pie saw that she was drifting gently back to the ground. She allowed herself a little smile as she came level with Taokaka’s head. The cat looked up at Pinkie, totally bewildered.

“How did you-?”

Before Tao could finish, Pinkie Pie lashed out with her hind legs, smashing both of her hooves into Taokaka’s face. Performing an elegant rotation in mid air, Pinkie Pie touched down on the solid ground gently, stumbling slightly as she shifted her weight off of her wounded leg. She watched as Taokaka soared through the air before crashing to the ground in a crumpled heap with a horrible thud.

Pinkie Pie had realised that running away was useless now, Taokaka was much faster than she was and the only reason that she hadn’t been ripped apart yet was because of her Pinkie Sense giving her a chance to respond to Tao’s attacks before they came. Pinkie opened her enchanted purse and pulled out her party cannon as Taokaka got to her feet.

The pink mare readied herself for the next attack and the rain began to pour far more heavily. The noise of water hitting the hard concrete ground was almost deafening, but Pinkie Pie barely noticed it. Taokaka stood upright, wobbling only very slightly as she reached her paw up. She slipped it into her cloak, right below her face before whipping it out again, hurling a bowling ball at Pinkie Pie in the process. Pinkie managed to hop over the bowling ball, only to be hit in the chest by two abnormally heavy pillows and a rotting apple core. Taokaka seemed to just materialise in the air above Pinkie and drove her claws deep into Pinkie’s abdomen. Pinkie Pie coughed up a mouthful of blood as Tao lifted her off the ground, span her around and slammed her back down again onto the concrete. The pony stretched out one of her hooves and pulled the cord on her Party Cannon. The force of the air being driven out of the barrel of the cannon was enough to push it backwards a few feet, right into Taokaka who was knocked face first onto the ground.

Pinkie Pie struggled to her hooves, grabbed her Cannon and began to shuffle towards the broken window of the pizza parlour where Taokaka’s bowling ball had landed. She was bleeding a lot and she knew that she wasn’t going to be able to last much longer in the state she was in, so this fight would have to come to a close very soon.

When she was about half way, she heard something. She turned around and saw Taokaka floating in mid air, a little river of blood running down her leg and dripping onto the ground below. Her claws were pointed directly at Pinkie Pie and there was a very noticeable change in pressure as Tao powered up her finishing attack.

“You’re already dead!”

Taokaka flew right at Pinkie Pie, her claws fully extended and thirsty for more of the pony’s blood. Fighting through her agony, Pinkie Pie shifted the position of her Party Cannon slightly. She tilted it up just as Taokaka reached her and the cat girl flew straight into the gaping barrel. Pinkie turned the Cannon skyward and pulled the cord, sending Taokaka hurtling back to where she had started. Nodding slightly, Pinkie forced her Cannon the rest of the way.

Satisfied that her next attack would be effective, Pinkie Pie loaded the bowling ball into the Party Cannon. Pinkie decided to try and get as much of the shattered glass as she could into the Cannon to act as shrapnel, just so her attack would be more powerful, slicing her hooves horribly as she did so.

But as she turned around, Pinkie Pie howled in absolute, unadulterated agony. A heavily wounded Taokaka was leaning across the barrel of the Party Cannon, her claws fully outstretched. The blades on her right paw were now firmly embedded in Pinkie Pie’s face, piercing her left eye. The pain was absolutely excruciating as Taokaka slowly dragged her claws down Pinkie Pie’s face, slicing through the soft flesh and splattering mangled pieces of skin, muscle and eye tissue all over the ground.

With a bellow of pure rage, Pinkie Pie pulled the cord on her Party Cannon, firing her lethal cocktail of broken glass and bowling ball into Taokaka’s body at point blank range. The ball smashed into her chest, breaking several of her ribs and sending the cat girl backwards through the air. But it was the glass that proved to be more lethal. Shards of shattered glass peppered Taokaka’s face, opening hundreds of tiny wounds and unleashing several tiny bloody eruptions. As she hit the ground, a larger piece of glass whizzed past her neck. Pinkie Pie watched in horror as Taokaka’s throat opened up in a wide red smile, blood spurting out of her neck violently. She frantically clutched at her neck with her paws, trying to stop the bleeding as her entire body spasmed with shock. After ten agonising seconds, her body went limp and the guttural sound of her choking ceased.She slumped forward and her eyes vanished under her hood.

Pinkie Pie clutched at the place where her eye used to be and screamed in agony and sadness. She was tired. Tired of killing people, tired of having to fight for her life, tired of being forced to end the lives of nice people like Taokaka. She had liked Taokaka very much, but this sick and twisted game had forced her to murder someone who could easily have been a close friend. But perhaps what terrified her more than anything was the fact that she had almost enjoyed it. Despite all of the pain, despite the fear of having her life ended, the rush of adrenaline she had felt as she watched Taokaka die and as she drove the knife into Lucy’s back had been exhilarating. She hated everything that she had been forced to do so far, but there was a part of her (growing stronger and stronger) that was enjoying the fighting. Gathering what energy she had left, Pinkie Pie packed her Cannon back into her purse and trotted over to the fallen warrior of the Kaka clan and muttered a soft apology through her tears. Limping, Pinkie Pie fell into the Portal that had opened up behind her and prepared herself for the next kill.

Vizzini vs Twilight Sparkle

Twilight fell backwards through the portal, landing heavily on the ground. For a few seconds all she could do was lie there, reliving the crime she had just committed. SHe had actively murdered another living creature, ended its life in a brutal and barbaric manner and that was something that she knew would haunt her for the rest of her life, however long that would be. Twilight Sparkle rolled onto her stomach and wept bitterly. Her tears fell freely, drenching her cheeks as as she sobbed, letting the hopelessness of her situation bear down on her. This survival game was becoming more and more real to her and this Universe would chew her up and spit her out again if she didn’t become much colder and far more ruthless. But the idea of going out of her way to kill another living thing still made her physically ill. Taking several minutes to close off her mind to everything but the task in hand, Twilight wiped her eyes and checked out her current battlefield.

At her hooves, the long grass swayed gently in the ocean breeze and little white flowers danced between the green blades gracefully. The sweet smell of new honeysuckles mingled with the harsh salty odour of the ocean. Twilight turned to look out over breathtakingly beautiful sunrise to the east, casting a mesmerising glimmer over the surface of the water. The pony was standing atop a large grey cliff, several metres above sea level and covered in grass and wildflowers. Behind her, a large expanse of woodland. Birds twittered all around Twilight and she began to feel herself calming down. To the north was the ruin of an ancient castle, stone walls that had once been grand had crumbled to dust and rubble. Twilight felt that that was as good a place as any to find her next opponent.

The ruin was truly magnificent, a historian’s dream come true. All around her were insights as to how the former occupants might have lived and what their lives may have been like. The sound of crashing waves below gave some insight perhaps as to how they had died. However, despite the arena-like quality that the walls of the ruin possessed, it soon became clear to Twilight Sparkle that she would not find her adversary here. She couldn’t help but feel somewhat relieved that her impending duel had been delayed, but she refused to let herself linger on that thought for very long. If she let herself think about what she was actually doing, then she’d never be able to continue.

Looking around, Twilight noticed the silhouette of a humanoid creature in the distance, sitting on a hillside, apparently waiting for her. Since there were no other living things around except for the various birds, insects and other standard woodland occupants, Twilight reasoned that it must be her opponent.She breathed in deeply, gulped and trotted towards her next would-be killer.

It took Twilight little over a minute to clear the distance between her and her opponent, and when she arrived, Twilight couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed.Before her sat a short balding man with dark beady eyes that were set slightly too deep in his head. He wore a disgusting dark green shirt, with odd looking red and gold embroidery. In all honesty, it appeared that someone had carved up a pair of curtains and had tried to pass them off as a garment. The shirt puffed out at the sleeves and seemed to hang loosely around his arms as though they were several sizes too big for him. The overall impression that the man gave off was that of someone who probably didn’t get out very often.

“Had you asked me a week ago,” the man said, startling Twilight Sparkle. “I’d have said that the possibility of me meeting a talking purple unicorn would be completely and utterly inconceivable.”

The man had an infuriatingly whiny voice, smarmy and generally just an unpleasant noise to hear. The arrogance that laced his words betrayed the attitude of a man who clearly put a lot of stock in his own brilliance.

“So my dear,” he continued. “Do you have a name?”

The unicorn hesitated a moment before speaking. “I’m Twilight Sparkle. Who are you?”
It was clumsy speech, but Twilight wasn’t entirely certain as to how to respond to her situation. The man had her permanently ill at ease.

“I am the Sicilian Vizzini, the greatest criminal mastermind the world has ever seen! And the likelihood of anyone ever matching me, well...” He shut his eyes and cast out his arms nonchalantly. “The very notion is totally inconceivable.”

Twilight unconsciously arched an eyebrow at the odious man before her.
“Well then, Vizzini,” She said, thinly veiling her disgust. “I’m sure that one as brilliant as yourself will have worked out why we are both here.”

The Sicilian chuckled as a smug grin plastered his face.
“Naturally, my dear. You and I are here to duel to the death.”

Twilight was mildly surprised. She hadn’t expected Vizzini to actually be so quick witted. Nevertheless, she allowed a small smile to grace her lips.
“THen surely you are aware that you cannot possibly hope to defeat me. From my studies of human beings, I understand that you aren’t exactly a fit and healthy specimen, I can see no weapons on your person and as such challenging a unicorn to a death match would be suicidal. Surely it is obvious that I have you at quite the disadvantage.”

Twilight had no idea what she was saying, but it sounded good, so she decided to stick with it. Vizzini, however, appeared unphased by Twilight’s fighting talk. In fact, he seemed to be almost enjoying himself. Either he didn’t care about dying, or he had some plan that Twilight was thus far unaware of.

“You are absolutely right, Twilight Sparkle, in a physical confrontation you would have me at a disadvantage. But,” he paused for a few seconds to let the suspense build. “What if our duel is not one of a physical nature. Perhaps our battle will be one of wits and luck rather than pure brute force.”

“And what if I choose to make it a duel of force?” Twilight could feel herself becoming increasingly furious with Vizzini. The Sicilian demonstrated unadulterated arrogance that made Twilight’s skin crawl. However, as she was calming herself down, a deep purple cloud began to swirl around her, encasing her in a glittery prison of smoke. After a few seconds, Nightmare Moon stepped out of the cloud and loomed over Twilight, grinning menacingly at her.

“Actually, my little rebel,” Nightmare Moon whispered, “you don’t have the luxury of choice here. You see, myself and the Changeling Queen have laid so many counter charms and spell blocks around this man that you wouldn’t be able to harm him, no matter how much you wanted to. This duel shall play out in the manner in which it was intended and there is absolutely nothing you can do to change that.”

The dark princess vanished and the cloud receded, leaving a terrified Twilight Sparkle once again in the middle of the field, with only the Sicilian for company. Vizzini appeared to be completely unphased by the whole situation, but Twilight was more on edge than ever before. Begrudgingly, she asked Vizzini for the terms of the duel. The Sicilian clapped his hands once and burst into a huge grin as he leaned forward slightly.

“Excellent!” Vizzini cried. He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small cylindrical container, stoppered with a small piece of cork. He opened the satchel that was resting behind him and withdrew two goblets and a bottle of red wine. He opened the bottle, filled both goblets and handed the small tube over to Twilight, instructing her to remove the lid.

“Have a smell of this, but do not touch the powder.”

Twilight pulled out the stopper and inhaled slowly. There was nothing potent about the scent, it seemed to completely vanish into the background to the point where nothing was detectable. Looking into the tube, Twilight could see a relatively large amount of white powder. It seemed dense enough to be unaffected by the gentle breeze, yet it didn’t weigh upon the tube too much.

“I smell nothing,” she said as she levitated the stopper back into the tube and placed it on the ground at her hooves.

Vizzini smiled before pointing at the tube on the ground.
“What you do not smell is Iocaine powder, an incredibly potent poison. It is tasteless, odourless, dissolves almost instantly in most liquids and can kill a man in less than a minute.”

Twilight Sparkle listened intently to everything the Sicilian was saying, making sure that she understood every scrap of information that he was telling her. Clearly Vizzini was highly intelligent, so he was likely to have a trick up his sleeve. He wouldn’t choose a challenge that he did not feel confident that he could win, so Twilight would have to divine his strategy quickly.

Surprisingly, the Sicilian handed Twilight the two goblets of wine and gestured for her to take the poison as well. He smiled as she tentatively levitated each glass and the tube back over to herself.

“Now,” Vizzini began, “pour the poison into one of the goblets and the challenge shall begin. THe game will end when I have decided which goblet holds the poison, we both take a drink and we find out who has won.” He paused for a few seconds, giving Twilight a devilish look. “And who is dead.”

Twilight understood the premise of the challenge now and it scared her. One goblet would hold poison, the other would be safe. If Vizzini chose the right glass, then Twilight would be killed, and if he chose wrong, then she would survive. Twilight levitated the glasses and the Iocaine powder over to the area behind her and turned around, away from Vizzini. She considered her options very carefully. She could refuse the challenge, but that would mean that she was trapped in this arena forever. As much as she hated the idea of killing again, Twilight manage to convince herself that since Vizzini had given the terms of the challenge, if he died then it would be on his head. She didn’t allow herself time to second guess that approach, otherwise she wouldn’t go through with her plan. What troubled her now was how could she think of a way to make sure that Vizzini drank the poisoned cup? After a minute or so of deliberation, she finally settled on her strategy. She poured the poison and placed one glass before Vizzini and the other before herself.

“And so the battle of wits begins.” Twilight Sparkle mumbled to herself.

Vizzini stared at the goblet in front of him for a few seconds before shifting his attention to the glass in front of Twilight. He switched back and forth several times, presumably searching for some trace of the powder that may have landed on the rim of the glass, but there was no clue as to where the poison was in that respect. Eventually, he spoke.

“Well, this is so simple. I merely have to use what knowledge I have of you to determine whether you are the type of pony who would put the poison into her own cup, or her enemy’s.”

Twilight Sparkle merely rolled her eyes and sighed. She had hoped that Vizzini would leave the entire battle to luck and just pick a glass, but clearly the Sicilian had other plans.

“Now let’s see,” Vizzini continued. “You seem to me to be a fairly innocent minded creature, good at heart and mostly pure, so it is unlikely that you would go out of your way to try and kill me, so I can’t trust the glass in front of me.”

“Very well then,” Twilight said, levitating her glass up to her lips. The Sicilian however interrupted her and instructed her to put the glass down.

“I haven’t yet finished my deliberations. You should learn to be a little bit more patient my dear. Now, where was I? Ah yes, I can’t trust my glass. Having deduced that you probably wouldn’t poison me, I must also accept that you are young and most likely still love life. It is therefore unlikely that you would willingly poison yourself, so the poison is clearly not in your glass.”

Twilight was very confused. First Vizzini had discounted the possibility that the poison was in his glass, but then he turned around and eliminated the possibility of the poison being in hers.
“But if it isn’t in my glass, and it isn’t in yours, then where is it?”

“Oh, it’s in one of them, certainly. From what I know of you, this is clearly not your first battle, and given the way you challenged me earlier, I can deduce that your previous opponents fought you by physical means. This suggests that you have impressive physical strength, strength that you believe may be enough to save you should your glass be poisoned, so I can’t trust the wine in front of you.

“However, you are also clearly intelligent, due to your eloquent speech. You have obviously studied and during your studies you must have realised that poison is almost always fatal to those who aren’t accustomed to it. Since you didn’t recognise the Iocaine powder, I know that you have never encountered it before, could not have developed a tolerance to it and would have therefore tried to move it as far away from yourself as possible, so I can’t trust the wine in front of me.”

Twilight enquired as to whether Vizzini was just wasting time, trying to get her to reveal some secret hint as to where the poison had been put. However, Vizzini just laughed and pointed a round finger at Twilight. His eyes narrowed and he looked somewhat akin to a parent about to discipline a disobedient child.

“you’d like to think that wouldn’t you! But it’s too late for you now, you’ve already given everything away! Of course I know where the poison is. I’ve always known! Now,” he hesitated for a moment. A look of genuine terror flashed across his face and he pointed at the treeline behind Twilight. “What in the world can that be?”

Twilight wheeled around quickly, lowering her head so that she could fight back if she was attacked. Her eyes flicked from right to left, looking for any beast or monster that could be lurking, primed and ready to attack. But having scanned her field of vision for several seconds, Twilight looked back to Vizzini, saying that she could see nothing out of the ordinary.

“I could have sworn that I saw something. Never mind, shall we drink? Me from my glass, and you from yours.”

Finally, Twilight thought to herself. She lifted the glass to her lips and placed them delicately on the rim. The sweet red liquid rolled into her mouth and she allowed herself to savour the flavour before feeling the smooth liquid roll down her throat with a satisfied gulp.

“You chose wrong, Vizzini.”

Vizzini began laughing incredibly hard. He pointed at Twilight, barely able to catch his breath as he revelled in his victory.
“You only think I chose wrong you fool! I switched glasses with you when you weren’t looking. It’s one of the most commonly known mistakes that you can ever make! The first is never get involved in a land war with Asia, but only slightly less well known is never get into a contest with a Sicilian when death is on the line!”

“You chose wrong.” Vizzini stopped laughing and a concerned expression overcame his face as Twilight Sparkle explained. “My home is very near a forest with many poisonous berries and fungi. My studies into botany wasn’t complete when I moved there, so as a precaution...” She paused as her horn began to glow. For a second or two, nothing happened, but then a thin stream of red liquid slipped out through the tip of her horn. As the last drop plopped into her glass, Twilight exhaled as though she had just undergone some strenuous exercise.
“I learnt how to perform a self detox. I poisoned both glasses.”

Vizzini’s eyes opened in shock as he felt his heart rate immediately drop to zero. Without any degree of dignity, Vizzini toppled backwards and landed on his back with a heavy thud. A portal opened up beside Twilight and she took a few moments to whisper a small apology to Vizzini before stepping through to her next arena...

Author's Note

Hi guys, sorry it took me so long to update. Christmas is always something of a chaotic time in my house and with exams to prepare for I just didn't have the time to get back to writing MLP vs....

But here you go, one of the longest chapters I have written for this story and using one of my favourite stories of all time, The Princess Bride, so I hope you enjoy.

Esmeraude vs Rarity by Brain in the Jar

Rarity emerged from the portal and blinked in surprise. Before her was a brightly lit wide corridor, paved with white stone and surrounded with walls of glass. Behind each glass panel a multitude of items could be seen: shelves full of books, home appliances, shoes? They weren’t designed for any race known in Equestria, but Rarity could recognize a shoe when she saw it. Curious, she approached that section of the wall and as she did, one panel slid open, allowing entry. A quick look inside revealed a number of mirrors and a cash desk. It was a shoe shop! Rarity ran inside, skidding to a halt among the shelves. Sure, nothing here would fit her but still, shoes!
It was only after she stopped in front of the mirror that she snapped out of her shopping spree mode. She looked perfect, which shouldn’t have been the case. All the dust, blood and injuries, disappeared. Even her mane was back in perfect condition. Thinking about it reminded Rarity of her predicament. Somewhere there was another monster waiting to kill her.

With a deep sigh she walked out of the shoe shop to check her surroundings. A quick test revealed more sliding doors. Apparently, the whole building was full of shops of various kinds. Fighting hard not to be distracted again, Rarity walked around, looking for her opponent.

Half an hour later, Rarity sat down with a deep sigh. The place turned out to be much bigger than she originally thought. There were three floors full of all sorts of merchandise. She shuddered at the memory of groceries she had stumbled into – it was quite obvious the locals were omnivorous. From the pictures she had seen in the stores, they seemed to be the same species as her first opponent, though judging by the bipedal ponyquins standing in the clothes stores, almost twice her size. However, the huge and unfamiliar city she could see through one of the large windows seemed completely deserted.

With the enemy nowhere in sight, Rarity could no longer resist checking the clothes store. It was one of the biggest around, extending through two floors, with its own stairs in the middle. The fashionista walked slowly among the aisles, taking in the designs, pondering the ramifications of bipedal stature to dress design. Obviously, the front would become more, and... She stopped to examine a coat rack she was passing by. The coat was honey brown and very puffy, something she had never seen before. She moved closer to take a better look, only to shriek in shock as the sudden realization struck her. It was fur! A piece of a living creature! Not only did the locals eat animals, but they apparently wore them too.

Feeling wobbly on her hooves, Rarity stumbled out of the store and into the main corridor. She stopped, leaning against the store window, waiting for her breath to calm down. She didn’t need this sort of surprises. Her day was already bad enough as it was.

Suddenly, Rarity’s ears twitched. The silence of the building was disrupted by the sound of steps. Someone was approaching. Shaking off the momentary weakness, the unicorn straightened up, bracing herself for whatever was to come. After a moment, a female of the local species emerged from behind the corner.

She was tall and lean, as tall as the ponyquins in the store, with pale skin and a very long, wavy, lime green mane, which clashed slightly with the small red jacket she was wearing. The rest of her clothes consisted of a short, black dress with a double golden belt, high-heeled red shoes and a pair of sunglasses. Large black crystal and gold earrings adorned her ears and a gold necklace was hanging around her neck. In her hand she was holding a fluffy fuchsia hand fan. Sadly, the remains of a piece of cake in her other hand and the crumbs around her mouth slightly spoiled the overall effect. The creature turned and looked at Rarity from behind the glasses, her mouth stretching into a lazy smile.

“Oh, so here you are. I was beginning to doubt you’d ever appear, when I heard the scream. You must be Rarity, the unicorn, yes?”

So, she knows who I am. She must be my opponent.

Forcing her body to look relaxed, Rarity nodded her head. “Yes, I am. You seem to have me at a disadvantage here darling. I’m afraid I don’t even know what species you are.”

As she finished the sentence, Rarity hesitated. Wasn’t it a rude way to ask? Fortunately her opponent looked more surprised than insulted.

“Species? I am a human. And as for my name, I am green Esmeraude of the Black Moon clan.” She stuffed the rest of the cake into her mouth and swallowed quickly. Then she waved her fan in front of her face and her glasses disappeared revealing a pair of dark eyes. There was now a mark in the centre of her forehead – a small black crescent with its tips pointing down.

“And now that we are done with introductions, I’m afraid it is time for you to die.” She waved her fan again and her body from the neck down was consumed by a vivid pink aura. When the spell faded, her clothes were transformed. Her dress now had a polo neckline and she was wearing matching long gloves and high-heeled boots. The golden belts and necklace were gone, replaced by five large oval turquoise stones, three in a pattern on her chest and two on her wrists, each framed by a ring of pearls.

Rarity took a step back, gasping with sudden realisation.
The fan... the fuchsia isn’t supposed to match her clothes, but her magic. But the colour of her aura clashes with her mane! And with a name like that, I doubt she could dye it a different colour. She won’t look good whatever she wears... What am I thinking!? I need to fight!

Esmeraude started laughing, a kind of loud and annoying high-pitched laughter that some snobbish unicorns mistakenly associated with high birth, and extended her arm, palm up, gathering magic energy, which quickly darkened from pink to almost black. At the same moment, Rarity turned to the side and bucked against the nearest store window. She needed ammunition.
What followed was a moment of utter consternation.

“What kind of glass is this?”

The window was bent out of shape, a web of cracks visible around the spot where Rarity kicked it. However, it refused to shatter, only deforming a bit more when she kicked it again.

“Why can’t I summon my minions?”

Esmeraude was staring at her palm where the ball of magic had fizzled out without any effect. She hesitated for several seconds, frowning, before forming another ball. This time it was meant as a weapon. When she looked up to aim it, however, she only saw Rarity’s tail disappearing behind the corner.

“Hey! Come back here and die!” She threw the ball, missing Rarity and hitting a shop on the other side of the crossing, deforming two adjacent windows and breaking their frames. She then teleported after the blast, blurring out of existence with a sound of static and reappearing where Rarity had been a moment before, ready to aim her next shot down the other corridor.

Rarity skidded across the smooth floor, frantically looking for cover. She managed to change direction, turning right and ducking into another store, just as another energy ball exploded behind her back. A moment later, Esmeraude appeared in the entrance. She was welcomed by row upon row of home appliances.

“Playing hide and seek, are we?”

She walked down the aisle, looking around. Toasters, irons, radios, washing machines... The far wall was covered with flat TV screens. There was a flash of blue aura and a trio of toasters rose from their shelf, flying at Esmeraude. She smacked them away with her fan, a discharge of black magic flinging them all across the room and forming a sudden gust of wind that knocked various goods off their places. One of the toasters hit a TV, cracking the screen. Esmeraude smirked. She gathered energy again and waved her hand across the room. The screens came to life, each displaying a leering Esmeraude’s face, all looking down at where Rarity was hiding. The room was filled with high-pitched laughter, repeated by dozens of voices.

Rarity stared with disbelief. This “human” was clearly a wizard and a powerful one. What could she do to save herself? Esmeraude rose into the air, looking down at her over the aisles. She was charging another energy blast. The screens had provided Rarity with a reflective surface, allowing her to attack while being unseen, but that was no longer possible. Worse, she was too short to see anything but the closest shelves. She threw the nearest item, some kind of juicer, at Esmeraude and then ran, staying low in hope of getting some cover. The next blast destroyed the shelf just behind her, so close that the blast knocked her forward on her face and pelted her backside with splinters. She rolled forward, wincing in pain as the tip of her horn briefly skidded against the floor. Regaining her footing, she found herself in an opening at the end of the aisle. Esmeraude was to her left, flying down to the floor and preparing to blast her.

The fashionista powered up her horn, taking a shot before Esmeraude finished charging her attack. The human prepared to block the blast, only to see it miss her and impact on the shelf behind her. She was about to respond with a much more precise shot when she felt movement from behind. A shelf full of extension cords had suddenly came to life, lashing with cables like some sort of a tentacle monster. Esmeraude shrieked as the first one wrapped around her wrist. Rarity kept focusing on the spell, bringing more and more cables against her opponent.

“Let... Go!”

Rarity fell on her back, knocked away by an explosion of force. Esmeraude was standing in an empty circle surrounded by a ring of burnt cables and charred wood, breathing heavily. “You... little... bitch!”

“A mare, actually.” The unicorn turned and ran towards the exit. Her trick had bought her a bit of time, but that was all she achieved. She needed to find...

There was a sound of static and Esmeraude appeared in the entrance to the shop, blocking the way out. Rarity changed direction, running left towards a glass wall. She knew better than to try a direct charge. Still, she needed to get out of this shop. The glass walls couldn’t be shattered, but perhaps... She charged her horn.

Esmeraude waited for a second as the unicorn disappeared behind the shelves again. Thanks to the TV screens she had a good idea where she was. Why was she running against a wall? There was a flash of magic and then an echo of hooves down the corridor. Puzzled, Esmeraude teleported to the corner of the shop where Rarity had run into. She gritted her teeth at what she saw. Where a store window should be, there now was a small double door, still swinging in the hinges, the glass neatly cut in the shape of two unicorns leaning in for a kiss.

***

Rarity peered from behind a shelf. She levitated a small compact mirror she had caught while running through a confections store and used it to take a look behind the corner. It was clear for the moment.

The last half an hour had been a wild chase through the floor, with Rarity moving from shop to shop in search of something she could use and Esmeraude blasting her way through everything in her path. The search provided a wealth of sharp objects to throw. Unfortunately, Esmeraude would just knock them away with blasts of magic from her fan. Attempts to lose her for a longer period of time proved futile as well; whenever the whitch lost Rarity for more than a moment, she would take off one of her earrings and extend it into a small pendulum, using it for some sort of divination magic. Also, last time they were running through the clothes store, she used her spells to bring some of the human ponyquins to life. They were now aiding her in her hunt, shambling around the stores like zombies.

One such monster had just entered the store, a tall, chalk-white male frame wearing a black suit. It loomed in the middle of the room, its flat, featureless head turning slowly, as if looking around despite having no eyes. Rarity closed the compact and braced herself. She had already come up with a plan, but that would require luring Esmeraude close to her. If she waited any longer, she might waste her chance.

Emerging from hiding, she ran across the room and down the stairs to the bottom floor of the large store. The ponyquin was slow to react, but she could hear it giving pursuit. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and stepped aside, before charging up a blast of magic, thinking of the contents of the first shop she had come into.

In a flash of blue magic, the shoes that the ponyquin was wearing were transformed into stilettos. The creature swayed, surprised by the sudden change of balance that came with high heels, before tumbling forward down the stairs and shattering to pieces. Rarity stared at it for a moment to confirm it moved no more, feeling a pang of guilt at ruining the suit, before ducking into cover. The noise was bound to bring Esmeraude here.

Sure enough, the witch appeared within seconds, teleporting into the store at the ground floor entrance. She had her pendulum-earring in one hand and her fan in the other. She approached the remains of her construct, looking around warily. Rarity breathed in deeply and then threw the first projectile, a chair from the cashier’s stand. There was a crashing sound as Esmeraude deflected it harmlessly. Rarity started running, fully aware that the sound of hooves on the tiled floor would give away her position. Sure enough, the coat hangers she had been hiding behind got blown away a moment later, the human giving chase with short teleport jumps. She turned one corner, than another. This side of the store had no window, instead ending with a solid brick outer wall. The unicorn was running out of places to run. Landing at the end of an aisle the Rarity had run into, Esmeraude prepared to finish her off... but the aisle was empty.

“Where is she...” The woman turned around, scanning her surroundings, the pendulum in her hand humming softly. Then she saw something in the corner of her eye. A shadow. One of the store lamps got knocked over during the previous chase through the store and was casting its light horizontally, through a long rack covered with light dresses. It cast a shadow on the wall, a shadow of a cowering pony with long, flowing mane. Smirking, Esmeraude walked in that direction. This aisle had a soft carpet, which muffled her steps. Her hand holding the pendulum glowed, the power focusing in the air near the tip of her fingers, darkening and thickening until it coalesced into a physical shape – a long, black, sharp crystal, slightly shorter than her arm. it crackled with a magical aura and then sped forward, shooting through the stack of dresses and the shape behind them. Esmeraude waved her pendulum and the dresses moved aside. However, instead of a fatally impaled unicorn, they revealed broken remains of a wooden chair and two mops. By the look of it, they must have been cut to shape and fitted together using magic, but now the impact had shattered them to pieces. Realizing the situation, Esmeraude turned around, ready to block an attack from the aisle behind her.

Instead, Rarity burst straight from the shelf next to her, charging through a small revolving door she had created with her magic and tackling her enemy into the cloth hangers on the opposite side, twisting in the air to grab Esmeraude’s magical fan with her teeth. There was a loud crash, the sound of many objects tumbling, finally the sound of hooves as Rarity ran off the carpet back onto tiled floor. She flung the fan under one of the shelves. It seemed her plan had worked. Using nothing more than basic fabrication spells she had used in her work and minor illusions developed for use in fashion shows, she had managed to trick a powerful wizard and deny her her defences. Now she just needed to...

She yelped in pain as another crystal javelin burst through the shelf next to her, grazing her ribs. A moment later, the whole shelf exploded, sending her tumbling on her side. Esmeraude rose into the air, still tangled in some scarves, her aura burning deep fuchsia to match her anger. She charged her magic with both hands; rather than powerful balls she had started with, she was now launching long salvos of minor blasts, like a magic machine gun, filling the air with flying bits of wood and torn fabric. Rarity was forced to duck and run, suddenly aware that she was quickly running out of available cover. Another piece of splintered wood hit the side of her head, leaving a nasty gash. She needed to strike back now – each blast Esmeraude fired could get lucky enough to score a direct hit. Without stopping, she focused her illusion magic again.

The light in the store dimmed. Esmeraude didn’t even notice until the next part of the illusion kicked in – the light from the few surviving lamps was redirected and focused towards her, creating an impromptu spotlight. Surprised, she paused for a second. Rarity knew why. She had used the spell before when presenting her new dresses line to Hoity Toity. One drawback of having the spotlight on you was limiting your view of the audience. She couldn’t create complete darkness, but the game of shadows and light bought her the time she needed to take aim. Esmeraude only had the time for a shriek of surprise as her own crystal javelin was flung back at her, hitting her squarely in the chest. She fell back, her flight magic disrupted, and tumbled to the ground.

There was a moment of complete silence. Rarity’s spell dissipated, revealing the completely ruined store. The unicorn was standing, all tense, her horn still glowing blue, ready to grab another object. A piece of a shattered mirror choose just that moment to fall out of its frame, breaking the silence, the last dying twitch of what had been a magnificent place of fashion. Rarity started breathing again and approached her fallen opponent.

Esmeraude was sprawled on her back, on top of a pile of broken wood that had been the store keeper’s desk. The crystal had hit her in the chest, right in the middle of the central gem, cracking its surface...

Rarity stepped back, but had no time to shield herself as Esmeraude’s eyes shot open. Tendrils of black lightning shot from the witch’s outstretched hands, striking the unicorn at point blank range and flinging her back. Esmeraude stumbled to her feet, holding the gem with one hand while using the other to pull the javelin free. She walked closer, firing another shot with her free hand, before rising her weapon to strike.

Through the haze of pain, Rarity saw the witch looming above her. It was too late to try to stand up. She just reached with her telekinesis, grabbing the crystal spike before it could be brought down on her. Esmeraude looked in surprise as blue aura enveloped her weapon. She struggled for a moment, trying to pull it free, before tapping into magic of her own. The blue and pink magic fought for control, but now the human was holding the weapon with both hands, her weight slowly pushing it down towards the unicorn’s chest. As she was trying with all her strength to stop the approaching doom, Rarity was desperately looking for a way to save herself. She knew her telekinesis was not strong enough to match her opponent’s magic. She had already used her limited illusion magic, her fabrication spells, her natural grace and agility. There was one last asset she had yet to use, one born of many frantic nights of work on her customers’ orders.

Esmeraude felt the resistance weaken, as if the unicorn’s magic had suddenly lost focus. She pushed harder, the tip of the crystal descending fast. However, before she could deal the killing blow, she stopped with a gasp, her magic aura disappearing as her focus was broken. A large piece of a broken mirror had pushed smoothly between her shoulder blades.

Telekinetic multitasking.

Rarity used the opening to push away, sending the javelin flying, before pushing herself back up and bucking with her hind legs, striking Esmeraude in the hips. The witch fell on her back, her eyes bulging from the pain as her own weight drove the deadly piece of glass all the way in. She stayed there, staring at the ceiling, a pool of red slowly growing underneath her.

Rarity stood on shaky legs, watching the body twitch, until a hum and a flash of magic informed her of the portal opening again. This confirmed the kill. Rarity made a mental note to remember it next time – until the portal opens, the enemy isn’t dead. She looked down at the body again.

I was lucky. That mare was a very dangerous foe... wait, that’s not the right word. She wasn’t pony-like at all. I think, she used the term “bitch”. She doesn’t look very dog-like either though... Perhaps it is a term humans use? Anyway, I better look for a drug store now. I need some bandages.

Turning away from the portal, Rarity left the store. She ached all over, covered in scratches, bruises and even burns. However, she hadn’t suffered any life threatening injuries. Some bandages and disinfectant should do for the time being. She knew walking through the portal would bring her body back to top shape, but what she really needed right now was clearing her mind. She didn’t know how many battles she would have to go through before an opportunity presented itself for escaping this nightmare. When it did, Twilight would probably be the first to notice it anyway. She was the magic expert of the group. This meant that there really was no hurry. Much as she wanted to go back home, ending the day with two digit body count wasn’t Rarity’s ambition. She was shaken as it was with her kills so far. If she wanted to avoid becoming a nervous wreck, she needed a moment to rest. Something familiar. Like fashion. Even if it was creepy human fashion.

She walked down the corridor, kicking an immobile human ponyquin as she passed it by, to make sure it wasn’t alive anymore. Somewhere in this giant bazaar there must have been some clothes store the witch hadn’t managed to wreck...

Author's Note

I'd like to thank Brain in the Jar for giving me this chapter, I didn't write it. Hope you all enjoy it like I did.

The Gremlins vs Fluttershy

Fluttershy stepped out of the portal and sank into the five inches of fresh snow. The air was freezing and the wind cut through her like a knife. Wherever she was, it was clearly the middle of winter here and the sky was black as coal with softer grey wisps of cloud drifting across the expanse. No stars were visible, but large metal rods extended from the ground bathing the white ground with light. Gargantuan four wheeled machines lined the street, permitting the falling snow to pile up on them coating them in a thick layer of white beauty. The air was so cold that her misty breath crackled as little water droplets condensed and froze. Fluttershy knew that she had to find some shelter and fast, otherwise she’d be frozen solid. She walked for several metres, shivering constantly, trying to find somewhere to stay. Many buildings surrounded her, but none of them appeared to be open and those that did were not particularly welcoming.

Eventually, a short red brick building with a dark green door and neon lights in the windows presented itself. It didn’t give off a very friendly vibe, but something told Fluttershy that she would be better off in there. The word “BAR” was written across the top of the door and Fluttershy wondered what that could mean as she slowly eased the door open.

Inside, Fluttershy could hear noises that sounded a little bit like one of Pinkie Pie’s parties: clinking of glasses, loud talking and laughing, off key singing, music and the occasional scream of someone who had taken the fun a little too far. Fluttershy refused to move from the doorway for a few minutes, partially because she was letting herself warm up, but mostly because she was terrified. If there was a party going on, then there were o0ther people or ponies, and if there were other living things here, then one of them would be trying to kill her. She was tempted to leave, find somewhere else to hide, but it was too cold outside to try it. It would also help her to hide from her enemy if she knew what exactly she was hiding from. Taking a few deep breaths, Fluttershy tried to prepare herself for what was waiting for her.

Fluttershy slowly made her way through the darkened hallway towards the sound of merry making. The green and yellow faded wallpaper guided her to a solid wooden door stood between her and what was sure to be her next challenger. Slowly, the door creaked open and the terrified yellow pegasus tiptoed in.

The noise was almost deafening as Fluttershy entered the room. Clearly the door had performed some kind of sound-proofing role because the pink maned pegasus had to cover her ears before she could properly concentrate on what was happening around her. Fluttershy coughed as she inhaled a lungful of the cigar smoke that lingered in the air. Spluttering and wiping her eyes as they began to water, Fluttershy looked around the room and took stock of everything she could.

All around her were high stools and even higher tables covered in shards of broken glass, streams of coloured foil, paper napkins and puddles of fizzing liquid that dripped slowly from the edges of the tables onto the floor. Burned out cigars and cigarette butts adorned almost every available surface and a thick bread like smell hung in the air. Seated at the tables were small black creatures with huge ears sticking out of the top of their heads and tiny crimson eyes that seemed to glow of their own accord. Their skin looked moist and scaly, somewhat reminiscent of the Changelings. They appeared to walk on two legs and they had two exceptionally long arms for their tiny bodies. Sharp white claws adorned the end of each arm, dagger like and clearly very dangerous. The monsters’ mouths were upturned in a constant grotesque smile, showing off two rows of blackened dagger like teeth.

What surprised Fluttershy more than anything was how comical the little monsters were. One of them was sat on a stool wearing a sparkly red dress that Rarity probably would have found insulting, its face was totally covered in clown like make-up and a curly blond wig squatted on its head in such a way that could not have been very comfortable. Beside that one, another little beast wearing a pinstripe suite and a tilted fedora broke into uncontrollable laughter. It laughed so hard that it fell off of its stool, which inspired loud cackles from all of the surrounding gremlins. The noise was hideous, crackling and rough like a wounded animal, but the sound was filled with malicious glee. There appeared to be something fundamentally cruel about these creatures, and as they interacted with each other more intimately, Fluttershy could observe just how truly abhorrent the gremlins were.

One gremlin picked up a bottle that was resting on the table in front of it and chugged down the entire contents in one gulp. Upon swallowing the last few drops, it began to span around and around and slammed the bottle into its neighbours head. The bottle shattered, causing incredibly sharp shards of glass to fly off in all directions. One shard slid down his partners back, spilling a foul smelling black liquid all over the floor as it fell to the ground. The gremlin’s arm twitched once, but soon lay still, its eyes wide open.

Fluttershy let out a small whimper as she gazed down at the tiny corpse, unwittingly alerting all of the other gremlins in the room to her presence. There were dozens of them, all staring down at her with malice in their eyes. The formerly rowdy monsters fell deathly silent as their eyes drank in the form of the terrified little pegasus. One of the creatures stood up on the table and took a few steps forward. It extended one of its arms towards Fluttershy, the talon at the end of its finger glinted in the light from the ceiling. Its face adopted a maniacal grin and malice filled its eyes.

“Yum yum.”

Those two words sent every other gremlin in the room into an uncontrollable frenzy. They hurled themselves over tables and across the floor as they leapt and charged towards the terrified little pony. Fluttershy shrieked and bolted out of the door that she had come through as a stream of small black bodies spilled out behind her. She kicked open the door at the end of the hall and flew up onto the nearest roof as the swarm of gremlins invaded the white snow beneath her. She had some difficulty keeping her balance on the frozen slope, but at least she was o0ut of reach of those beasts.

However, before she could catch her breath, Fluttershy saw the tips of two ears peep out over the edge of the roof. Fluttershy stifled a scream as the gremlin’s hideous grin appeared before her. It tried to heave itself up further using the drain pipe running down the front of the building. Without thinking, Fluttershy panicked and kicked a hoof full of snow at the minster, causing it to fall onto the frozen ground below. There was a soft thud as the gremlin struck the concrete path under the snow and Fluttershy was convinced that she had just committed another murder. Tears began to run down her cheeks as she took off and flew from rooftop to rooftop, desperately trying to get away from the demonic mob that was chasing her. Up ahead was a large building with several broken windows that she could easily fly through and she decided that that would be a good place to hide for now.

Two murders. Fluttershy had actively murdered two other living creatures. She was supposed to be the physical embodiment of kindness and yet she had committed such barbaric acts of cruelty against her fellow living creatures. Fluttershy was beside herself with despair. She had made an oath never to harm another living thing, and yet she had broken that oath twice in the space of as many days. How could she ever look her friends in the eye again.? Would she have to take any more lives before she was released from this living nightmare?

“Of course,” Fluttershy whimpered to herself. “This is exactly what Chrysalis, Discord and Nightmare Moon want. They want me and the others to break down and stop fighting, they want us to lie down and die. But I won’t do it!”
Fluttershy was shouting now, more to bolster her own confidence than anything else, but there was a part of her that hoped that Discord, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon were listening to her right now. She wanted them to know that they hadn’t beaten her and that she was not ready to give up on her friends just yet.

Fluttershy thought back to a few weeks ago, before she had been kidnapped by the Changelings. Her animal friends had been a little bit more excitable than usual and were behaving very badly. Fluttershy had never tried to force them to do anything in her life, but if they were doing something particularly bad, then she would have to resort to using her Stare to get them to stop. Fluttershy didn’t know much about how or why the Stare worked, but she did often wonder about how specific she could make her requests. She wanted to know if she could give direct instructions to her animals using the Stare or whether she could merely give general requests.

Angel Bunny had been bouncing up and down on the couch, knocking off all of the cushions, tipping over the side table and generally just making a huge mess. Fluttershy had gotten so frustrated that she had to resort to using the Stare. She gave him the verbal instruction to pick up all of the cushions and put them back in their proper place, then to sit down quietly. It was more specific an instruction than Fluttershy had ever tried to give before using the Stare, but sure enough Angel Bunny performed the task perfectly. Fluttershy had been terrified of what this new power could do. She knew that she would have to avoid using it unless she absolutely had to.

And this was a situation where she absolutely had to resort to desperate measures in order to stay alive. As far as Fluttershy was aware, the Stare was not mind control as such, more like a heightened method of persuasion. Maybe instead of killing the gremlins herself, she could persuade them to do it for her. The monsters seemed simple minded enough, so convincing them to kill one another shouldn’t prove too difficult. As long as she wasn’t actyually committing the murders, she wasn’t really to blame and she wouldn’t feel so guilty. After all, she had to be the last one standing, but that didn’t mean that she had to fight for herself. With her new strategy beginning to take form, Fluttershy flapped her wings and flew back to the last place she saw the gremlins.

Upon arriving, Fluttershy was surprised to find that no one was there. All of the monsters had vanished, leaving behind a twisted maze of footprints as the only clue that they even existed. Having looked after animals her entire life, Fluttershy was accustomed to tracking little creatures that got lost in the snow, so she was easily able to identify the tracks of three gremlins that had separated from the rest of the group. She took note of which way they went ad tracked them to a small house about half a mile away. The gremlins had clearly smashed a window and climbed through in order to wreak some havoc inside. Fluttershy gently beat her wings and let herself in through the shattered window. She was completely petrified, but she couldn’t let that stop her. She wasn’t just doing this for herself, just so that she could survive. She was doing it for her friends. She was sure that her friends needed her and the only way to get to them was to win this death match.

Fluttershy had barely managed to get her hooves on the ground when something came whizzing past her face. She turned quickly and saw a gremlin standing in the doorway of what appeared to be the kitchen. In its claws, it held all manner of knives, forks and an assortment of other sharp objects. Laughing maniacally, the gremlin selected a large meat cleaver from its collection and hurled it at Fluttershy without warning. Fluttershy wasn’t fast enough to get out of the way and the heavy blade slid effortlessly into her wing. With a loud crack, the bones at the tip of her wing snapped and the weight of the falling cleaver tore off the end of her wing. The whole process was very quick, so Fluttershy didn’t register the pain until the knife hit the floor at her hooves. After a second or two, Fluttershy dropped to the floor and clutched at her wing with her front hooves. A sickening wail escaped her lips as she thrashed around in a steadily growing puddle of her blood and tears. She was in excruciating agony, terrified beyond belief and totally hopeless. She was going to die here, a broken mess on the floor at the hands of a gremlin. As it dawned on her that her life was about to come to an end, Fluttershy’s tenuous grip on her sanity faltered and was lost. Within her mind, Fluttershy could hear a small spark ignite and she stopped screaming. She was still in pain, but she now could tell herself to ignore it. Her broken mind was entirely under her control now that her self-preservation and desire mechanisms had kicked in. it was liberating, to be free of the constraints of her conscious timidity. She slowly got back to her hooves, one side of her body covered in a thin film of blood and she forced her lips into a smile.

The gremlin was still in fits of hysterics as Fluttershy walked up to it. As Fluttershy glared down on the beast, the gremlin looked up and caught her eye for a second. A second was all it took for the Stare to take hold and the gremlin stopped laughing, totally beguiled by Fluttershy. Without breaking her Stare, Fluttershy began to speak to the gremlin. She spoke softly, almost tenderly, but there was a real hatred in her voice that Fluttershy never usually let out.

“That wasn’t very nice now was it,” she said, flicking her injured wing slightly. The gremlin just shook its head. “You need to be punished for being such a meanie don’t you? Your ears look sort of like wings to me, so as part of your punishment,” Fluttershy paused momentarily. “You’re going to cut one of them off.”

Without hesitation, the gremlin dropped all of its knives except for one very long and sharp kitchen knife with a thick black handle. With one hand it stretched out its ear, and sliced it clean off with the other. Black ooze spurted out of the wound, splashing into Fluttershy’s face. She didn’t even blink.

“I don’t think your punishment is over just yet. No, your punishment must be more severe. I think, to prove that you’re sorry, you should try and hit yourself with that knife ten times.”

Immediately, the gremlin began hacking away at the top of its head. With every blow, fresh skin was removed and the knife blade bit down into the flesh surrounding its skull. After about five hits, the skull caved in and the gremlin drove the knife blade deep into its own brain. The gremlin let go of the knife, dropped to its knees and fell to the ground with the knife still protruding from its head. Black slime, flecked with fragments of white skull bone covered the floor and Fluttershy was soaked in a black and red mixture of gremlin blood and her own.

Fluttershy trotted into the kitchen and looked for something that she could use to stop her wing from bleeding out. She couldn’t allow herself to be killed by a poorly thrown meat cleaver after all. She wrapped her wing up in half a roll of kitchen towel before sticking it in place with cling film. She stretched her wing out to make sure that the dressing would hold, and while she winced at the pain of doing so, nothing seemed to be wrong with it. She returning to the task at hand, Fluttershy had tracked three gremlins to this house and thus far only one of them was dead. Above her, Fluttershy could hear clawed feet scraping along the floor, running back and forth over her head, and she immediately set about finding a way to get upstairs.

Finding the staircase was easy and very soon Fluttershy was on the upper floor of the house. There were deep claw marks in the walls and various photograph frames and paintings had been knocked down and smashed. Cruel laughter drifted down the hallway, betraying the gremlins’ presence. Fluttershy stood still at the top of the stairs and looked down the length of the hallway and noticed that all of the doors were closed, except for one right at the end of the hallway which was slightly ajar. It creaked as it swung slightly and Fluttershy was absolutely certain that the other two were in there, but she wasn’t willing to just wander headlong into what was obviously a trap, so she decided to wait until the immature nature of the gremlins got the better of them.

She didn’t have long to wait before the first creature emerged from its hiding place, snarling and roaring, flailing its arms around in an attempt to appear more menacing than usual. The second gremlin burst out from behind the door as Fluttershy began to give the first one the Stare. In an instant, the first gremlin was under her spell.

“Your friend is being very loud and very bad,” Fluttershy spoke softly and quickly with no emotion in her voice at all. “You should stop him from being so naughty.”

Not even pausing to blink, the gremlin turned around and launched itself at its kinsman. Claws flew, kicks and punches and scratches resounded throughout the hallway as the two monsters fought each other. Bodies were slammed against walls and the floor, flecks of black blood squirting out of the wounds being inflicted on one another and the roars of rage and pain coming from the diminutive fighters were terrifying to hear. Both gremlins threw themselves at each other in a way that reminded Fluttershy of the Arnold Schwartzeneighger films that Rainbow Dash always forced her to watch. After the vicious, albeit brief confrontation, one of the gremlins thrust its hand towards the other. Its claws tore through his neighbours flesh and deep into his opponents chest. The wounded fighter let out a noise that was half a cough and half gurgling as the black blood spewed from its mouth and ran down its chin. The victor gripped a fistful of soft flesh and twisted its arm, launching another mouthful of blood from the opponent. The winner withdrew his hand and let the lifeless corpse of his adversary fall to the ground with an graceless thump. Before the winner could do anything more, Fluttershy knocked him to the ground with her front legs and stomped down hard on the monsters skull. The bone crumbled underneath the force of the blow and the poor demons head basically exploded under the pressure, sending a large splash of blood all over the floor and walls. As she left, Fluttershy scraped the ooze and fragments of skull off of her hooves against the corner of the top step. She looked back at the headless body of the gremlin she had controlled and offered an insincere congratulation before she set off to find her remaining enemies.

Four of the monsters had been defeated, leaving at least another thirty for Fluttershy to hunt down. Looking up at the sky, Fluttershy noticed that the cloud had cleared somewhat so finding the remaining gremlins would be much easier now. Fluttershy started making her way back to “BAR” where she hoped to track another small group of gremlins and eliminate them. Hopefully, she could keep tackling them in small groups so that she would have a better chance of winning.

However, as Fluttershy was crossing a large intersection, she heard the sound of cruel laughter that alerted her to the presence of the gremlins. Shadows darted back and forth across the snow in front of her and she could hear the sound of the gremlins sprinting behind her as well. They weren’t closing in on her, but they were certainly surrounding her. She stopped right in the centre of the intersection and looked all around her, trying to find a way that she could escape, but the shifting shadows of the gremlins kept her penned in. One thing was certain though; there were a lot more of them than there had been before. Suddenly, two red lights appeared above the snow. Fluttershy stared at the lights, wondering what they could be, but before long another pair appeared beside the first set, then another behind her, and another on the building to her right, and another and another until she was surrounded by at least a hundred pairs of red lights, red eyes, staring at her. From the shadows, one gremlin stepped forward and looked right at Fluttershy.

“Yum yum!”

An army of gremlins closed in on Fluttershy as the sun began to rise. The pony couldn’t hold any one gremlins gaze long enough to attempt a Stare, and there was no way that she could physically fight against so many. She crouched back, shut her eyes and prayed that her death would be swift.

But death did not come for her.

After a few seconds of waiting, Fluttershy realised that the gremlins had stopped laughing and shouting. She opened her eyes and saw the look of absolute terror on the faces of her enemies as they all stared into the sun as it rose. Some of the gremlins were no more than a foot away from her, but they had stopped to watch the sun as it rose. The suns light spread across the snow towards the gremlins, but they did nothing to move out of the way. As the first group was struck by the warm glow they began to shriek with fear and agony. Their skin began to melt and fall away from their body, exposing the muscle underneath and sending them into fits and spasms. Soon, every gremlin in the area was collapsed on the ground and writhing around in absolute agony trying to prevent their bodies from falling apart. Black blood flowed freely from every new wound that opened up in their tiny bodies and their eyes liquefied inside their heads, mingling the red and white juice with the black and grey sludge of the blood and molten flesh. After about thirty seconds of suffering, all that remained was a tiny yellow pegasus, surrounded by an army of little skeletons.

The portal opened up right in front of Fluttershy and she stepped through without hesitation, ready to face her next adversary, sure that she would win.

Author's Note

Sorry this one is so late, but I do have my reasons:

History coursework has kept me pinned down pretty much permanently, it is unbelievable how much I have to try and fit into 2000 words.
I've been working on my socio-political vlog on YouTube, TheCommunistMessiah, so that's taken up some of my time
Writing fights for FLuttershy is ridiculously hard. Seriously, p[utting her in a situation where she can kill other things is almost impossible.

Anyway, the next fight is Applejack vs Genghis Kahn and I promise that you will have that one sooner than you had this one.

Applejack vs Genghis Khan

Applejack felt the cool green grass under her hooves as she walked through the arena she had been placed in and she let herself smile for a second. She inhaled the sweet air and relished in the feeling of the gentle breeze as it blew her mane slightly. The weight of her new chain blade was barely noticeable as she surveyed the placid landscape around her. Tall blades of grass swayed lazily in the wind and beautiful hills surrounded her, forming a gigantic natural bowl with her right in the centre of it. The soft white clouds drifted gently in the sapphire sky, casting thin wispy shadows on the ground, and Applejack tried to keep herself relaxed. It felt like she was in a rodeo competition and she was about to enter the ring. She knew that she stood a better chance of winning if she entered the brawl with a clear head and made her decisions on a logical basis. As she looked around, it became clear that the valley she was in was an example of the elements conspiring together to create a large natural arena for her to fight in. She adjusted the position of her hat, readied her chain and waited for her adversary to put in an appearance.

After about ten minutes, Applejack could hear a sound, like clinking metal in the distance. She looked up and saw at the top of one of the surrounding hills a man, astride a brilliant brown stallion. He was covered in metal clothing that looked somewhat akin to what the Royal guards wore in Canterlot. On the man’s back, Applejack could see a huge spear, at least twelve feet in length with a thick red fabric at the point. At his hip, a sword bounced as he trotted deeper into Applejack’s valley. On the soldiers head sat a round helmet topped with an impressive plume of white feather protruding proudly. In one hand he held a short curved bow and Applejack could tell immediately that she would have to be wary of that weapon in particular.

Without stopping, the mounted warrior reached to his side and extracted an arrow from his quiver. He pulled back his bow string and let the arrow fly, all in less than a second. Applejack barely got out of the way in time as the arrow whizzed past her head and sank deep into the mud behind her with a soft thud. Applejack tilted her hat forward and began her own charge against the warrior. Applejack took her chain in her mouth and began to swing it above her head, ready to knock her enemy from his perch. But the soldier was very quick with his bow and was able to fire another arrow before Applejack could get him in range. This time, the hard steel tip of the arrow tore open Applejack’s skin and the shaft buried itself relatively deep in her flank.

The pony yelped in pain and dropped to the floor, letting go of her chain in the process. She could feel a small stream of blood running down her rump and she was certain that her injury would cause her issues during this fight, but she also knew that she needed to ignore them as much as she possibly could. Fighting through the pain, Applejack turned her head and bit onto the shaft of the arrow and pulled. There was a sickening squelch as the arrow was yanked out of her body, and the wooden shaft between her jaws was the only thing that stopped Applejack from howling with fury. Thankfully, this was not the first time that she had sustained an injury like that (when you kick trees all day for a living, there’s always going to be one branch that tries to fight back), so once the arrow was out, Applejack was able to force the pain out of her mind. She bent down and took up her chain once again and limped towards her attacker. There was no way that she was going to let herself be beaten by such a meaningless wound.

The warrior was still bearing down on Applejack as he threw away his bow. She was too close to warrant using another arrow, so the soldier felt that his bow was just taking up space. He reached behind his back and took up his spear. He tucked it under his arm and sped up his charge against Applejack. He held the spear as though he were entering a jousting contest in the Crystal Empire, but Applejack knew that the outcome of losing this joust would be much worse for her. She knew immediately that if she was hit with that spear, she would not recover fast enough to launch an effective counterattack, so she would certainly be killed. She had to avoid that spear at all costs. Chain in mouth, she span her blade around her head twice before lashing out at the soldier. The crescent shaped blade glided past the shaft of his spear, but its trajectory caused the chain to wrap around it twice, squeezing it with a vice like grip. With a single solid jerk, the spear was broken and the warrior had been unhorsed. The steed reared and galloped away from the battlefield as his master started to get up, discarding the remnants of his spear.

“The greatest joy for a man is to defeat his enemies, to drive them before him.” The warrior stood completely upright and began to walk towards Applejack, slightly dazed but still proud. “To take all they possess, to see those they love in tears, to ride their horses, and to hold their wives and daughters in his arms. I am the terror of the East, the master and commander of the Mongol horde. I am,” he yanked his sword out of its sheath and held it out to the side. “Genghis Khan!”

With that cry, the Mongol charged straight at Applejack, his sabre held aloft. Applejack pulled her blade back to her, but Genghis Khan was too fast for her, so she had to stretch her chain out in front of her with her front hooves to block the sword. The force of the blow was incredible, knocking Applejack on to her back. She stretched out her back hooves and pulled in a section of chain closer to herself. With a kick, she tossed the chain around Khan’s leg. With a pull she managed to bring him crashing to the ground/ Applejack had managed to buy herself a few seconds to get herself together and plan her next attack.

Applejack span the blade around her heads a few times before slamming it down on where Genghis Khan should have been. The Mongol warlord had already gotten to his feet, so the blade fell just short of him, but Applejack was ready for that. She quickly pulled the blade back, flicked her chain over her shoulder and swung her blade around again for another slash. Unfortunately, as Applejack’s blade struck Genghis Khan’s armour, the curve of the metal links caused the predator blade to glance off without doing any damage at all. Applejack didn’t have time to launch a third strike against Khan, so she decided to resort to her next best tactic: a shock and awe physical assault.

However, as she reared back to launch herself at the Mongol, the wound in her flank made itself known once again. She had been able to ignore it for most of her duel but the added weight and pressure caused it to tear open even further, letting even more blood out. As she fell to the floor, Applejack saw the Mongol sabre slice through the air where her head had been a split second earlier. Not one to pass up a golden opportunity like this one, Applejack took her chance to strike again. She couldn’t match Genghis Khan in fair combat, but his armour slowed him down just enough to give her the advantage when he hit the ground, so she took up her chain and wrapped around Khan’s ankles. With a tug, she brought the Asian warlord to the ground again, this time knocking the helmet off of his head. Applejack grabbed her chain in her mouth again and thrust it towards Khan as he got to his feet. He stretched out his sword and managed to catch the chain, but thanks to the curved blade on the end, the sabre was quickly torn from the warrior’s hand. Khan glanced around for a weapon he could use, but his arsenal had been exhausted.

But Genghis Khan was clearly not someone to give up in the face of adversity. With an ear splitting war cry, the Mongol hero charged at Applejack, seemingly intending to murder her with his bare hands. Applejack was legitimately a bit scared and started to back off. She pulled her chain back, wrapped it over her shoulder and thrust out another attack with it, but Khan sidestepped it. As she pulled back and fired another attack, Khan kept dodging out of the way. As soon as he was just two feet away from the pony, Applejack hurled out another desperate attack. Genghis khan didn’t dodge fast enough and tried to make up for it by disarming Applejack. The chain wrapped around his arm and he tried to wrestle the chain away from the farm pony. But Applejack’s jaw was substantially stronger than Khan’s arm and he with one pull from the pony, Genghis Khan’s arm had been dislocated. He roared in rage more than pain and continued his assault on Applejack.

Applejack sidestepped as she thrust out her final attempt at taking down Khan, expecting yet another failure. However, this time the chain managed to spin around Khan’s neck. Applejack dashed behind Genghis Kahn, automatically tightening the chain around his neck and pulled him down to his knees. The warlord gripped at the chain frantically with his working arm as he gasped for air. Applejack couldn’t risk him actually breaking free, so she limped as quickly as she could over to where Genghis Khan’s blade had fallen. As Khan tilted his head back and stretched his mouth wider to try and force more air into his lungs, Applejack Thrust the sword into Genghis Khan’s mouth. It slid cleanly into the mud as it passed out through the back of his head and a look of genuine shock crossed his face as he felt the cold steel of his own sword sliding through his throat. His eyes fluttered shut and he ceased struggling.

Panting, Applejack fell to the ground. Genghis Khan had fought incredibly hard and it was by pure luck that she had managed to defeat him. A small, slow flowing river of blood was running down the fallen warrior’s cheek and his proud features, though marred with red stains, were still impressive to behold. Leaving him here without showing some kind of respect just didn’t seem right to Applejack. A warrior deserves a warriors funeral. Applejack Took the time to dig a deep hole in the ground, partially using her predator chain, partially just using her hooves. She removed the sword from Khan’s mouth and lowered the armour clad corpse into the ground. She piled the dirt back on top of body and offered a small prayer for him. As a final show of respect and to mark the grave of a fallen warrior, Applejack plunged Khan’s sword into the ground and laid his helmet on top of it. The gentle breeze caused the white feathery plume on the helmet to flutter and the whole area seemed oddly peaceful. With a sigh, Applejack turned and trotted through the portal, ready for her next foe.

Author's Note

Genghis Khan - Middle Ages Mongolian warlord.

SURVIVAL GAME: Mane Six vs the Weeping Angels

Screams echoed through the cave that the ponies were currently standing in. Twilight turned around and saw Fluttershy curled up in a ball on the floor, rolling around and letting out the most horrific and heart wrenching wails that she had ever heard. Pinkie Pie trotted over, noticeably placated by her fights, and gently laid a hoof on her broken friends shoulder. The high pitched howls of Fluttershy pierced the darkness like a dagger for the next few minutes until she eventually stopped. However, whilst she had stopped screaming, the sound of her sobbing still resounded around the cave. Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash all slowly walked over to their distraught friend and held her lightly, letting her tears dampen their coats. As they all looked back over their last few brawls, the lives that each of them had taken began to weigh down on them. All of the blood that had been spilt by their hooves seemed to drown each of them in sorrow. Each pony could see the faces of their victims as they held each other, weeping bitterly in the darkness reliving each dark moment of their careers in murder. Less than a week ago the six little ponies had been sweet and innocent creatures, just going about their business and living life the way they wanted. Now they had become cruel, vicious murderesses and it cut each of them very deeply to think of how far they had fallen. About how little force it had taken to make them kill.

“Well, isn’t this a touching little scene.”

Rainbow Dash wheeled around and glared up at the draconequus Lord of Chaos and snarled. There was pure hatred in her eyes, but Discord just laughed at her.

“Does it feel good to play the victim now? Does being the villain not have the same feeling as being the hero?”

His voice was laced with malevolent glee. Rainbow Dash could feel her blood beginning to boil, her rage beginning to build up immeasurably. She had taken down Pikachu and all of those Digimon, so surely she could defeat this insufferable monster. She leaned back slightly and launched herself at Discord. The Chaos God simply batted her away with his tail, barely blinking as he did so. Applejack took up her chain and prepared to attack, but a sparkling blue cloud pinned her blade to the ground. From the shadows behind Discord, the figures of Nightmare Moon and Queen Chrysalis stepped forward. All three of the powers that had trapped the six ponies in this arena of bloodshed and murder were now stood before them. There was no way that this could be anything but bad news.

“We’ve gathered you all here,” Chrysalis began, her two tone voice echoing through the cave disconcertingly. “To tell you all a little bit about your next challenge.”

Nightmare Moon cleared her throat before stepping forward and speaking up.
“This place where you now stand is called the Aplan Moratorium, but these days it is known better by its other less savoury name: The Maze of the Dead. Your challenge is simple, girls. Survive in this place for two hours and we will move you onto your next arenas.”

Discord began to chuckle to himself in a way that made every single one of the ponies anxious. If Discord was laughing, that meant that there was something even worse about to come.
“Of course,” he began, “that doesn’t really seem like much of a challenge does it? So I felt it was only fair to inform you that you are not alone down here. We have trapped six of your nearest and dearest in this maze with you all over the place. You have two hours down here, you have to use that time to find everyone you can. Everyone that you have managed to find will be taken home at the end of the two hours and their memories altered so that they don’t remember any of the events that occur in this place. However, everyone that you fail to find...” Discord grinned maliciously.

“Is stuck here.”

There was a peculiar hush as Discords words registered with the ponies, leaving an eerie calm before the storm. They all began to frantically search for a possible exit from the cav e they were in, they needed to find their friends. But Discord wasn’t finished yet and he cleared his throat loudly to attract everyone’s attention.

“There’s one more thing too ladies. There are... things, down here that are not particularly friendly. I’m not going to tell you who or what they are, that would be no fun. But I am going to give you three clues. Clue number one: they are masters of hide and seek. Clue number two: If you can see them, they can’t see you. But if they can see you, you can’t see them. CLue number three: I hope you are all good at playing Granny’s Hoofsteps, for these creatures love that game. Well,” Discord said, bending backwards in an over exaggerated show of fixing a crick in his back. “That’s all from us. Arrivederci!”

The three monsters vanished into the darkness, and the tiny amount of light that they had provided vanished with them. Without hesitating, both Twilight and Rarity lit up their horns so that they could get a better view of where they were. The cave they were in was actually just a tiny alcove that opened up into what appeared to be a much larger subterranean expanse. Twilight cast a spell that sent a large ball of light up into the air above her, bathing everything in a midnight esque moonlight. The cavern they were looking out into was gargantuan and the walls were covered in things that resembled old Saddlearabian buildings. Statues lined every available surface and cliff edge, giving the impression that the place had once been a city. Twilight tried to take in everything that she could, not only to help her find the six missing ponies, but also to try and work out what manner of creature Discord could have been warning them about.

Behind her, Fluttershy was still crying her eyes, completely and utterly inconsolable. THis was no surprise really. After all, her calling in life was to look after other creatures, to tend for them when they were sick, to care for them when they were lost and tired. And now this monstrous contest had forced her to kill. No wonder she was so torn up about it. The other ponies didn’t like killing and believed it to be wrong, but for Fluttershy it was far more than that. Even in self defence, killing completely challenged her nature, her instincts. It forced her to become the exact opposite of who she really was and it was truly awful. Twilight wanted to spend a few more minutes comforting Fluttershy, but six of their friends were out there, trapped in the Maze of the Dead, and they had less than two hours to find them all, so Twilight gathered all of the ponies together.

“OK girls, we have less than two hours to find all of our friends and get them out of here. Now, i know we’re all pretty messed up from the ordeals of the past couple of days-”
(“That’s putting it nicely...” Rainbow Dash mumbled.)
“But for now we need to try and put that all behind us and stick together.”
Twilight straightened herself up and brushed her mane out of her face with her front hoof.
“Right now, all that matters is that our friends are in danger and we are the only ones who can help. Whatever problems we have to deal with can be sorted out later on, but right now we have six ponies to save. Discord, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon are formidable opponents, but they made one mistake with this survival game, and that was putting us together. With the power given to us by our friendship, there’s nothing that we can’t do.”

Fluttershy dried her eyes and got to her hooves. She still couldn’t speak properly for fear of bursting into tears again, but the mere fact that she had managed to get up was enough of a signal that she was ready. Applejack wrapped her chain around herself in such a way that she could get at it easily if she needed to. Rarity located three relatively large, sharp crystals hidden in the dirt and threaded them into her mane in case she needed them later on. Pinkie Pie found some large stones and loaded them into her Party Cannon before slipping the cannon back into her purse. Rainbow Dash stretched out her wings as far as she could and folded them back in again, making sure that she was limbered up in case of any problems. Twilight made sure that her light spell would remain in the air without her around. With her horn still acting as a torch,Twilight found the tunnel in the wall on the far side of their alcove and the six ponies began moving, hoping that they could save everyone in time.

The ponies splashed through puddles of water that had accumulated on the ground from the steady dripping of the walls as they galloped through the tunnel. Given that the current arena was called a moritorium, Twilight surmised that it must be some form of burial chamber. If she was right, then the civilisation that had chosen this burial site must have had some beliefs centred around statues. There were beautiful carved stones of what appeared to be human women weeping, their faces covered by their hands. In various places, the statues had been eroded beyond recognition, but they must have been beautiful at one time. Part of Twilight’s inherent curiosity wanted to take the time to examine the statues and find out what they represented, but there was a far more demanding task at hand. But there was something wrong. Something was playing on Twilight’s mind and no matter what she did, there was no way of shaking the sickening belief that somewhere, somehow, Twilight had seen these statues before.

Without warning, Pinkie Pie skidded to a halt and bellowed at the others to wait. Everypony jumped and Applejack went for her chain, fearing an attack. But Pinkie Pie didn’t seem so much scared as she demonstrated an awareness of her surroundings that was uncommon for someone like Pinkie Pie. Slowly, she made her way over to a smaller tunnel that branched off from the one they were in and tilted her head, as though listening out for something. She shut her eyes and concentrated until she could clearly make out the sound of a little filly crying. Without a word, she sprinted off down the corridor, the other five ponies following her. Before long, everyone could distinctly hear a child crying and as they ran on the noise got louder and louder. Thirty seconds later, Twilight’s torch was shining down on the quivering little body of Applebloom. Applejack leapt forward and wrapped her front legs around her little sister and squeezed her tightly. Applebloom blubbered something about being scared and alone, but Applejack just whispered words of comfort in her ear and stroked her mane, repeating over and over that she would never let anything bad happen to her. After a few seconds, Twilight coughed lightly to let Applejack know that it was time to get moving again. The two farm ponies got up and followed Twilight and the others back through the passage and into the main tunnel again.

Once in the tunnel again, Rarity pulled Twilight aside to get her out of earshot of the others. There was a confused and very scared look on the seamstresses face as she whispered in the purple unicorns ear.
“Twilight dear, when we came through this tunnel earlier, were any of the statues in the middle of the path?”
Twilight just shook her head.
“Then could you please explain what
is doing
.”

Twilight stifled a scream as she looked past Rarity into the tunnel in the direction they had come earlier. There, right in the middle of the tunnel, stood one of the statues its face still covered by its hands. Twilight was absolutely certain that it hadn’t been there before and she found it hard to believe that something would have moved it there just to scare them. That meant that the statue moved of its own volition. And if that was the case, then she knew exactly what monsters Discord had trapped them with. Twilight called everyone around her.

“I think I know what creatures we’re dealing with in here.” Twilight was terrified, but she tried to keep her panic under control. “Discords clues all make sense now. No one knows what these monsters are really called, how old they are or where they come from, but the common name for them is the Weeping Angels.”

“And what do these Weeping Angels look like exactly?” Rainbow Dash snapped, somewhat unimpressed with Twilight’s enigmatic description.

“Take a look at any one of the statues here, that’s what they look like. At least, that’s how they look when you’re looking at them. Remember what Discord said about them being masters of hide and seek, and how they couldn’t see us while we could see them? That’s because when they are being observed, while you are looking at them, they become statues. To all intents and purposes, harmless. But then you take your gaze away. Then you blink. You turn your back. And all of a sudden they aren’t statues any more. The Angels feed off of potential time energy and they have two ways of getting this. The first is that they zap you back in time and then feed off of the energy of the moments you would have had. But if they are weakened, then they’ll probably settle for the second option of just killing you and feeding off of all the moments you should have had if you had lived. They are ruthless and brutal, and we are completely surrounded by them.”

Every single one of the ponies began to scan every wall, corner and ledge, searching for a place where a statue was that shouldn’t be. They couldn’t have been in the maze for more than ten minutes, but already they were in grave peril. Every statue in this titanic mausoleum was secretly a demon plotting how best to hunt down and kill the little ponies. The survival game just got about fifty times harder.Not only were they searching for five more of their friends, they were trying to avoid the Angels and make sure that they got to everyone else before the statues did. Thinking quickly, the ponies arranged themselves into a circular formation with Twilight at the front and Rarity at the back providing light in both directions down the tunnel so that no Angel could sneak up on them. Time was of the essence, but safety had to come first. As long as they were watching every possible direction, there was no way that an Angel could catch them off guard.

Walking slowly through the tunnel, the seven little ponies kept their eyes open, looking for whoever else might be stuck down here with them, while at the same time doing their best to ignore the scrabbling noises of clawed hands climbing the rock walls around them. Up ahead there was a small thumping noise, like tiny hoof beats. Around the corner, a miniscule rabbit appeared. Its scratched behind its ear nervously as it hopped forward and thumped the floor with its foot to try and drown out the awful noises in the tunnel.

“Angel Bunny!” Fluttershy yelled as she rocketed forward.
Twilight tried to stop her, but it was too late. The little yellow pegasus had already bolted forward and snatched up the little bunny in her hooves, holding him close. The usually moody white rabbit returned the hug with just as much vigour. Unfortunately, the flurry of pink and yellow that Fluttershy created as she flew provided enough of a distraction to attract the attention of every other pony in the tunnel. They looked away only for a second, but that was all the time it took. Screams rang out as the ponies looked back down the tunnel and saw a group of six Angels, their arms stretched out towards them. Twilight span around and saw a group of three Angels bearing down on Fluttershy’s position. They were completely surrounded, unable to move in either direction without losing sight of either group of Angels. Twilight’s brain began to go into overdrive as she tried to think of a way to get past the Angels and out of the tunnel safely. After a few seconds of deep thought, she had a eureka moment.

“Everyone, form a circle in between the two groups of Angels, make sure you get in nice and close.”
Without hesitation, the seven other wanderers gathered around the purple unicorn, never once taking their gaze away from the statues surrounding them.
“Now, on my signal I want you all to shut your eyes for exactly two seconds.”

Rainbow Dash was completely bewildered.
“But I thought you said that they couldn’t attack us if we keep looking at them. How is letting them attack a good idea?”

Twilight just shook her head.
“It’ll be all right Rainbow Dash. If anything, this is going to get us out of here alive, for now at least. Are you all with me?”

The other ponies mumbled various affirmations that they were willing to go along with Twilight’s plan. With a loud shout, Twilight gave her signal and everyone pinched their eyes shut tight. There was a harsh scraping noise as something slid quickly over the rough stone floor. After two seconds the seven ponies (and one rabbit) opened their eyes. Applebloom let out a terrified shriek as she stared into the face of a demonic snarling statue. The formerly beautiful features of the Weeping Angel had been replaced by vicious, bestial fangs and claws. The grace and mystery of the living statues had been replaced with hate and savagery. Applejack started and leaned over to Twilight.

“OK Twi, now we’re surrounded with even less room to maneuver than before. How exactly was this meant to help us?”

Twilight however, was not scared at all. in fact,she was smiling from ear to ear. She was completely calm and gestured rather nonchalantly towards two of the Angels.
“Applejack, what do you notice about these two?”

Applejack studied the two statues for a moment, unsure of what Twilight was talking about. But after a few seconds it dawned on her and the orange pony let out an audible sigh of relief. Now she understood what Twilight had done.The Angels were no longer a threat because they could no longer stop being statues. All nine of the Angels were arranged in a circle around the ponies and while the ponies stayed where they were, all that the Angels were looking at was them. However, once the ponies moved, the Angels would be staring at each other. The Angel’s greatest weapon had become their greatest weakness. They were being eternally watched by each other. Gradually, each of the wanderers left the circle and resumed their course down the tunnel.

The tunnel opened up into the main catacomb where Twilights light spell was still illuminating the walls. Doubtless many of the statues had moved in their absence, but the open nature of the humongous catacomb dulled some of the fear that the ponies felt. So far, two of their friends had been found, but that meant that there were still another four left somewhere, hiding in the dark, stalked by the greatest killers that evolution has ever made.Fluttershy stopped walking for a moment, but her hoofbeats had been so quiet that no one had really noticed.
“Um...girls?”
Still no one else stopped. Fluttershy silently cleared her throat, but the others trotted further forward.
“Girls?”
Still no one turned around.
“Everypony stop and listen to me for a minute!”

Fluttershy’s bizarre outburst had earned a few quizzical looks from the other members of the party, and the little pegasus suddenly felt very shy again. but what she had to say was important enough to force her past that.

“Well it’s just that, since we’ve found two of our friends, we could find out what they have in common?”
The other ponies gave it some thought, but they couldn’t come up with anything that Angel Bunny and Applebloom shared aside from being very important to one of the ponies.
“Well, think about it this way. Applebloom is very close to Applejack, and Angel Bunny is very close to me. But we knew that was going to be the case from the beginning. So what else do they have in common? They are both friends of ours who would be easy to capture and wouldn’t be missed right away.”

Applebloom gave an unimpressed snort and Applejack made a face like she had just been slapped.
“What do you mean not missed? My little sis has plenty of friends who would notice she was gone, not to mention Big Macintosh and Granny Smith. And Miss CHeerilee would know if Applebloom didn’t turn up to school today!”

Fluttershy sank down, scared of her friend and upset that she had insulted Applebloom, but the fact was she knew she was right and she needed to tell everypony else her theory. it might save them, so Fluttershy kept going.
“Of course, I didn’t mean that she wouldn’t be missed at all. What I’m saying is that she wouldn’t be missed right away. Children get sick all the time, so it might not pose that big an issue at school, and because Applebloom is always hanging out with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, it’s safe to assume that Big Mac and Granny Smith could put her disappearance down to her being with them. It wouldn’t be impertinent of them to believe that, given the circumstances, would it?”

Applejack opened her mouth to say something, but in all honesty she knew that what Fluttershy said made sense, so she just apologised and relented.

“With what we know,” Fluttershy continued, “who are the friends and family members of the rest of us who could be kidnapped with the minimum of fuss, for maximum impact on us?”

The ponies thought for a few moments before Twilight’s face went paler than Rarity’s.
“Oh sweet Celestia, they took Spike.”
“It’s going to have been Scootaloo for me,” Rainbow Dash said, her voice little more than an angry whisper.
“I can’t think it would be anyone other than Gummy for me, especially since they took Angel Bunny for Fluttershy.”

“Sweetie Belle.” That was all Rarity could say as she stared off into the middle distance. She couldn’t believe that her darling little sister had been taken into this ghastly place. The mere thought of what the Angels would do if they found Sweetie Belle before she and the others did made Rarity physically sick. She heaved a few times, but due to the fact that she hadn’t eaten anything in the past few days nothing came out.

Suddenly, part way across the catacomb, Pinkie Pie saw a small shape scuttling along the floor. At first she thought it might be an Angel, but then she realised that she could properly see it moving. Unless there were other creatures besides the Angels in the Maze of the Dead, she had just found the third of their missing friends. Squinting, Pinkie Pie tried to find some identifying features that would let her know who it was. As the little pony crawled directly under Twilight’s light spell, Pinkie could make out the bright yellow fur, huge blue eyes and curly orange mane that could only belong to one pony.

“Oh no,” Pinkie snapped, getting everyone’s attention. “Rainbow Dash, you’ve got to help. I know who they kidnapped for me.” Tears fell down her face and onto the hard rock floor.
“Please, it’s little baby Pumpkin Cake.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes opened wide at the mention of the name. Pumpkin Cake was just a baby, less than a year old. There was no way that she could survive for very long in this dreadful place. In fact, it was a miracle that she had managed to last this long. She spread her wings and leapt down into the catacomb. She had to get to the infant quickly, but at the same time she needed to be flying gently enough not to accidentally hurt the child when she got there. In less than a second, the cyan pegasus had touched down next to the infant. She scooped up Pumpkin Cake and took off again. She chanced a glance backwards and saw a group of five Weeping Angels just over ten metres away. If Pinkie hadn’t noticed Pumpkin when she did, Rainbow Dash was certain that the baby would never have been seen again.

As Rainbow Dash came in to land, Pinkie Pie pulled the infant in close and held her tightly. Pumpkin Cake gurgled innocently, blissfully unaware of the great danger she had just been in. But Pinkie was crying harder than she ever had before. The tiny child in her hooves had been in terrible danger, and with just over an hour left of the survival game, she still was. On top of that, they still had to find Spike, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle. Pinkie pie had been wrong about Gummy, but the others were probably in their theories of who had been stolen from them. They needed to find everyone as soon as possible.

Each of the ponies scanned the area for another tunnel, but it appeared that the way they had just come from was the only path on this level, so they had no choice but to try and find a different route. On the eastern wall, a narrow staircase wound up to the next floor. Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash went first, followed by Pinkie Pie with Pumpkin Cake resting on her back, then Applebloom and Applejack, with Rarity, Fluttershy and Angel Bunny bringing up the rear. It was a peculiar sight, but it meant that there were no blind spots where the Weeping Angels could attack from.

At the top of the stairs however, things were not going well. As Twilight and Rainbow Dash came to the top, they saw that the narrow walkway ahead had been blocked by four Weeping Angels, all stood in a row. Beyond them, Twilight could see two more Angels that had been frozen as they entered the tunnel less than fifty yards away. There was definitely another survivor hiding in there, and the Angels were quickly hunting them down. Twilight knew that she needed to get everyone past and into that tunnel, but with the roadblock of Angels before them, there was nothing that they could do.

“I could fly over them and find out who it is that those guys are chasing? As long as you guys keep an eye on the Angels out here, I should be fine, right?”
Rainbow Dash made sense. She was definitely a fast enough flier to make a scout mission seem reasonable, and there was nothing stopping her from getting past the Angels who were trying to block the path. On the surface, it was a solid plan, but Twilight had spotted a problem and she wasn’t willing to let Rainbow Dash take such a huge risk.

“You could get past these ones easily enough,” Twilight began. “But what if there are Angels in the tunnel that we can’t see? Without me or Rarity to act as a torch, you wouldn’t be able to see them before it was too late. You’d be dead the second you turned the corner.”

“So why don’t you teleport across with me?”

Again, Twilight shook her head.
“In this darkness, the flash from my teleportation spell would cut everyone else's vision for a few seconds. That could easily be enough time for the Angels to attack and I can’t risk that. I just don’t know what we’re going to do.”

Suddenly, Applejack let out a growl that sounded like it should have come from a Timbre Wolf. She leaped over Pinkie Pie, barged past Twilight and Rainbow Dash, unwound her chain and started spinning it above her head. With a grunt, she brought it down through the top of one of the Weeping Angels. The blade slid through the rock as though it were made of cream cheese and the statue fell in two pieces. Applejack span around and decapitated the statue on the edge of the path. With a solid kick, she tipped the headless statue into the ravine below, relishing in the sound of the satisfying crunch as it smashed against the solid rock floor. With a smile, Twilight decided that she was going to join in on this destruction and sent a blast of concentrated magic straight into one of the remaining two Angels, blasting it to dust. Applejack cleaved the final statue in half, leaving a clear path for the ponies to travel down.

“Twi,” the orange farmer panted. “Why didn’t we just do that in the first place?”

Twilight took a moment to catch her breath before replying.
“The reason is that it’s going to be even more difficult now to find everyone. We had to destroy those Angels, but it means that every Angel in this moritorium now has a personal vendetta against us. The Weeping Angels have been called the loneliest species in existence, because they can’t ever look at each other, they can’t ever speak to each other. But they are also some of the oldest creatures in the universe. THey share a social consciousness, like telepathy, and it allows each of them to communicate with one another without needing to see or speak to each other.”

“And now that we’ve killed four of the Angels in that bond,” Rarity interrupted. “They will treat us as actual enemies.”

“Exactly,” Twilight continued. “When they were chasing us before, it was strictly business. THey needed time energy, we were a potential source of that energy. But now that we have killed four of them, it’s personal.”

Applejack seemed to understand and wrapped her chain back around her body. THe ponies set off towards the tunnel, after Twilight had made sure that the two Angels at the entrance were facing each other, so they wouldn’t become a problem in future. The group took up their circle formation again and set off into the darkness. They cried out the names of the three remaining ponies who they needed to find and the echoes filled the darkness in an almost physical blanket of noise.

For almost an hour they kept on walking, kept on shouting, and Twilight, Rarity and Rainbow Dash began to get more and more hysterical. They knew they were running out of time to find their missing friends.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the darkness and Rarity bolted down a secondary tunnel. She knew that squeal, it was definitely Sweetie Belle. The other girls ran after her, glancing back as frequently as they could to hold back the advance of the Angels chasing them. A few metres down the corridor, there was a larger cave. Inside, Scootaloo stood at the mouth of another small tunnel bellowing Sweetie Belle’s name over and over again. In the dead centre of the cave stood an Angel with Spike in its grasp. Rarity didn’t even look at Scootaloo or Spike, she just charged down the tunnel where Sweetie Belle had gone. Fluttershy hesitated for a moment, greatly concerned about Spike’s predicament, but she eventually decided to follow Rarity. Rainbow Dash slid to a halt beside Scootaloo who just stared up at her, tears in her eyes.
“Please Rainbow Dash, you have to bring Sweetie Belle back. Spike’s hurt and Sweetie Belle ran off. Please, you have to help.”

Rainbow Dash scooped up Scootaloo and flew off down the tunnel after Rarity and Fluttershy. Spike may have been hurt, but as long as someone was keeping an eye on the Weeping Angel and either Pinkie Pie, Applejack or Twilight was with him, he should be fine. Rainbow Dash forced herself even faster, as fast as she could travel in this darkness. There was only about a minute left.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, Spike was in the clutches of a Weeping Angel. On the other hand, he was still alive and Sweetie Belle still hadn’t been found yet. When Twilight came in, she screamed at the sight of Spike, the stone claws of the Angel buried deeply in his flesh. His head was being dragged up by one arm and the rest of his body was being pinned to the statue by the other. Twilight quickly composed herself, albeit not very well, and told the others to go after Sweetie Belle. Reluctantly, Pinkie Pie and Applejack headed off down the tunnel after Rarity. Alone with Spike, Twilight fired a blast of magic into the ceiling of the tunnel she had just come through. There was no way that she was letting any more Angels come in here to interrupt her.

“I’m so sorry Spike. I we had just gotten to you a little sooner...”
“It’s all right Twilight.” Spike’s voice was weak and croaky. The claws of the Angel had clearly done more damage than was clearly visible. “You have to go and help the others find Sweetie Belle. It’s too late for me now-”
“Don’t you dare say that!”
“No Twilight, it’s true. This statue has very sharp claws, I can already feel my body begining to wind down around me. I can’t even move my tail any more.”

Twilight was crying uncontrollably as Spike spoke. She knew he was right and there was absolutely nothing she could do to change that. There were only thirty seconds left, and she knew that the others needed her help in finding Sweetie Belle, but she just couldn’t bring herself to leave Spike just yet.
“You were a wonderful assistant. Spike,” Twilight managed to say, sobbing over every syllable.

Spike laughed before tilting his head towards the tunnel that everyone else had already gone down. Fifteen seconds. Twilight nodded and began to run. Spike must have blinked, because there was a gut wrenching squish from behind Twilight. She turned around and saw the Angel holding Spike’s head aloft, blood dripping down its arm onto the floor. His limp, lifeless body dangled from the other arm, still twitching a little. Blind with fury, Twilight unleashed a magical barrage that reduced the entire cave to rubble, destroying the Angel as she dropped to the ground and wept for her friend. Seven seconds.

Rarity charged down the tunnel as quickly as she could, tears streaming down her face. She shouted and hollered Sweetie Belle’s name, hoping that with less than ten seconds to go, her sister would pop out from the shadows and be safe. She kept running, kept shouting for as long as she could. From the darkness ahead of her, Rarity could hear Sweetie Belle calling out to her in return. She must have turned a corner up ahead and was only just out of sight. Rarity leaned forward and sprinted even faster than before. The corner came upon her and Sweetie Belle’s voice was as clear as day to her now. Rarity broke into a huge smile as she realised that in a few more steps she would have saved her sister and Sweetie Belle would be all right. Rarity rounded the corner and ran straight into the light of the portal to her next arena.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, rounding the self same corner, Sweetie Belle called out for a sister who was no longer there. A moment ago she could hear Rarity’s voice brilliantly clearly, but now there was nothing except a slight electrical buzz in the air. A shuffling noise behind her made Sweetie Belle jump. She turned around and saw one of the statues in the middle of the tunnel, right behind her. Sweetie Belle blinked and the statue had edged even closer to her. Sweetie Belle screamed and ran, only to have her screams cut short by the feeling of cruel claws tearing through her body. She died alone, terrified, screaming in the dark...

Author's Note

And there you go, the end of MLP vs Season One if you will. I will of course be writing more fights, but I want to take a break from it for a while, so here's a nice 6000+ word chapter to end on.

The Weeping Angels: Doctor Who.

MLP vs Derpy by Lil.Woona

The pink orb surrounding the six ponies fluttered: turning off, then on, then off again as the ponies’ hooves and magic hit the prison wall. Clearly getting annoyed at the lightshow, Nightmare Moon bellowed at the draconequus “I though you could handle this!”
“It’s not the easiest thing to bring disharmony to the land, keep the arena in place and control a prison bubble full of brats. You are the one that wants me to keep them mute too! Give me a break” Discord sighed. Smirking slightly, the beast continued “At least we can be sure that a pony will die today. I just love that!”

“I need to get back to my people. You are taking too long Discord” Queen Chrysalis alleged. “What are you waiting for?”
“Now now ladies. I can make the announcement on my own. You get back to your people. I thought you knew what I was waiting for anyway.”

As the sun drenched the field in a warm orange glow, the sleeping spell on the ponies wore off and they woke to see the next challenge they would face.

“Welcome, welcome my little ponies!” Discords accented upbeat voice chimed. The response was a grim silence. The six, now disturbed ponies, stopped attacking the orb, as they got their first chance to take in their surroundings; for Discord had made the prison orb opaque. “The time has come for the next stage in my entertainment; well I mean…your fight!” The wicked creature paused again, this time to put his hand into the ponies prison and stroke Fluttershy’s pretty mane and to add effect when he whispered loudly into Twilight Sparkle’s ear “with Derpy Hooves”.

It took two ticks of angel’s tail for the despair to show on Twilight’s, then Pinkie Pie’s and Rainbow Dash’s and Applejack’s and Rarity’s and Fluttershy’s faces. “Derpy” they chorused. Applejack rose and kicked the force field with all her might. It faltered and in that moment the bucking pony escaped. “I refuse! NO!” I will not kill any of my friends! But before she could finish she was dragged and held upside down by a cloud. “Whatcha do that for you great-” beast! But again, before she could finish she was interrupted…”FREAK!” Fluttershy finished for her. Twilight gasped. But dusting Twilight’s mouth with her yellow hoof Fluttershy continued “You have made me hurt and attack and kill so many. I was able to justify that because by doing so, I protected my friends. This is where I make my stand! No! If I have to go into that arena to fight Derpy to the death…I will let her beat me.”

“Lets find out just whooo will be fighting Derpy then shall we! As it will not be all of you. It will only be one lucky little filly”. A large round glass bowl popped into existence, full of small pieces of paper. It floated mid air, moved full circle around the pink orb and even bopped Applejack on the head “Hey!” Applejack called out. “Let the reaping begin! Ladies first, huh?” Discord winked at Pinkie Pie. One of the bits of paper flew out of the bowl and right in front of Discord. Coughing slightly, to clear his voice, Discord began to announce who would face a fight against Derpy. “Well, no point in delay” Discord joked. “I better tell you who it is!” Discord’s teasing was once again met by silence from the audience. “Alright, it is Pinkie Pie. The rest of you get to see the surely epic fight between Pinkie Pie and Derpy.”

***

The arena was wet. I don’t mean that as in it was damp, or raining or full of puddles. But the arena was completely wet. What was laid out in front of Pinkie Pie was nothing more or less that a giant Bubble bath pool thing “Oh my gosh this is so amazing!” The pink pony could not contain her excitement as for one short moment she forgot about the fight and went straight to diving into the wet bubbly pool.

The water was crisp, clean and breathable. “I’m like a fish!” Pinkie Pie squealed in joy; but then decided: now this is messed up. The pool floor was coated in shining white sand, with the occasional balloon dotted around tied to a rock. Pinkie wondered whether this was done before the reaping, or whether they would have changed the decoration based around who was chosen to fight. As a cloud of confetti floated past the pink pony, it dawned on Pinkie Pie. The game is afoot and only one pony would survive.

It was not long before the bubbles swimming past Pinkie Pie were a cutie mark rather than actual bubbles. “I don’t want to fight!” Pinkie screamed, defying too many laws of physics to count. The grey clumsy pony must have somehow heard because Derpy flew out over Pinkie Pie, into her view. With a bubble sword in hoof Derpy’s voice echoed “I have no choice but to kill you. I don’t know what went wrong, but they have my friend and Discord…” Derpy sobbed. “Discord will kill him unless I kill you”.

Derpy flung her sword towards the pink pony’s neck, but Pinkie Pie jumped up instinctively. “Agghh. Derpy, you cut. YOU CUT ME WITH A BUBBLE!” Red goo ebbed out of Pinkies rear hoof, clouding the clear waters around her. “`Tis but a scratch!” Derpy battle cried as she took another lunge towards Pinkie. It was clearly not just in Pinkie Pie’s imagination that something was different about Derpy. Something was off.

Pinkie Pie hopped away from the crazy grey pony and her sword, looking for a weapon of her own. How on Equestria can a bubble cut a pony? Pinkie’s senses directed her to a corner of the arena. Pinkie hopped out of the water, through thick foam of bubble madness and onto glory-full dry land. Thank God! Looking up, Pinkie saw a nearly cloudless sky, with a couple of white and one blue strange looking clouds. Ahh wow. It dawned on Pinkie Pie almost instantly. The pool was Derpy’s bubbly domain. The sky was somehow hers.

Imagining a set of stairs, Pinkie walked up to the blue cloud, which was really a blue balloon sword. “SO AWESOME!” Pinkie screamed. Derpy, hearing Pinkie Pie, followed the sound and burst out of her bubble fort. Stretching her wings, Derpy flew up to Pinkie, sword in hoof, reaching out for pink flesh and calling out for blood. But instead: sword met sword, making a loud thudding boom. “How amazing would this be, if there was chocolate rain?” Pinkie giggled. “Chocolate rain?” Derpy repeated, confused. The clouds accepted the call for chaos and chocolate rained from the skies.

The scene soon got gloomy and Derpy used her knack for messing up the weather to her advantage, making lightning cross the sky and singe Pinkie at least twice. Feeling electric enough, Pinkie Pie asked for gravity and the pair of ponies found themselves falling, despite Derpy trying to fly up and escape the pull, but without success. “GAHH!! What, gravity?” Derpy perplexedly called; clearly not understand how the new laws of chaos worked. Hitting the bubbles with chilling booms, both ponies fell to the bottom of the pool in pain.

It seemed like forever before the haziness in front of Pinkie Pie’s eyes cleared and when they did, they met a blonde haired grey pony with a sword held against Pinkie Pie’s chest. But the sword would not pierce the pink pony’s heart. “I can’t do it.” Derpy sobbed.
“I know” Pinkie continued. “Killing another pony”
“I do not have it in me” The two ponies chorused together. Derpy’s sword fell from her hoof and drifted into a swarm of glitter and confetti.

A single grain of sand moved in the silence that had broke out, releasing a small bubble, which got drifted away by more confetti. But then more and more sand moved releasing more and more bubbles; until there were bubbles as big as Derpy’s head surrounding and moving around the ponies. Faces appeared in them. Faces full of terror and tears. A young brown colt appeared in one, an even younger grey filly in another. Both struck with terror. Derpy instantly became cold and hard. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack and Rarity appeared in bubbles around Pinkie Pie. Pinkie screamed a small unstoppable scream, shocked at the cuts and cries on her friend’s faces. Another bubble showing cakes and muffins being cooked too long, with Discord laughing obsessively brought them both to tears. “NO! The muffins are burning!” Derpy cried.

Pinkie Pie swung her balloon sword into the sky and brought it down onto Derpy’s chest. “I have to. I am so so sorry.” Derpy, remembering her lost sword relaxed, accepting death. “Please, promise me. If you ever get out of their mad mad world, take care of them. Take care of my family. If. If you can”. Shedding more tears Pinkie sobbed “I will. Pinkie Promise”.

A bright blue box shone, taking the ponies by surprise. Bubbles and confetti scattered as a whirring sound flew through the water. The box wandered in and out of reality before stabilising. Pinkie Pie dropped her sword which coasted away. The appearance of the police box filled Derpy with crystal clear tears of joy. Pinkie Pie smiled, without knowing why. “Police box. There is a police box” Pinkie announced dumbfounded. The door opened and Doctor Hooves reached out a hoof, and Pinkie Pie watched in amazement as the Doctor and Assistant disappeared. A portal dragged a stunned Pinkie away.

Author's Note

Here you go guys, a little guest submitted chapter from Lil.Woona. Hope you enjoyed it.

Kirito and Asuna vs Twilight Sparkle

Twilight was enveloped in a now familiar light as a portal opened up around her. Her head was still reeling from that horrific spectacle of a Survival Game. She allowed her mind to drift back, reliving the moment when she knew that Spike was gone. The ghastly vision of that statue clasping the baby dragon’s head in it’s monstrous claws while holding his lifeless body in the other hand made her feel violently ill. The image of Derpy slicing at Pinkie Pie with her bubble sword flashed across her mind and as she began to materialise in her next arena, Twilight vividly pictured Pinkie Pie standing over Derpy, ready to deal the final decisive blow of the fight. Had they all changed that much? Looking back over her fights, Twilight realised just how accustomed to death she had become. She had formulated how best to destroy the Dalek, had tricked Vizzini into poisoning himself and had blasted two Weeping Angels into dust. She did all of that without even really giving too much consideration to what she was doing. As her hooves began to feel solid ground beneath her, Twilight wondered if she should just give up her fight now. How many more innocent lives would her freedom cost? Would Discord ever seriously release them from this living hell, or did he plan on imprisoning them all here indefinitely, until they were killed? She knew her next opponent would not be long before arriving, so perhaps this time she shouldn’t even put up a fight. The situation was utterly hopeless and the promise of one day going home with her friends was no longer enough motivation to keep going. After all, Spike was gone and nothing would ever change that.

But perhaps that was the very reason why she needed to fight now more than ever. However many lives it took, however many fights she would win, Twilight knew that she would pay her sentence once Discord had paid his. Discord had kidnapped her friends, had forced them to duel other creatures to the death in this vile tournament of his and he had been directly responsible for Spike dying. Twilight was not going to forgive him for that. It took Twilight less than a second to make up her mind. She would use these next rounds to get stronger, to hone her skills and to improve her magical abilities to the point where she could defeat Discord. Together with her friends, Twilight Sparkle would make sure that Discord suffered for everything he had done, once and for all. She hardened her heart and felt her mind go cold and clear as ice. It didn’t matter who her next opponent was, she would have to defeat them quickly and advance to the next stage. She still didn’t exactly relish the thought of killing, but so much blood had now been spilled that she was getting used to the kill-or-be-killed nature of this game. She’d just have to try and make it as quick and painless as possible.

Twilight Sparkle took a look at her new arena, It was a gargantuan hall with beautiful marble pillars that ascended from floor to ceiling. The floor itself was made of a dazzling black stone that glittered and sparkled in the dim light provided by the torches that adorned the walls and twisted their way around the pillars. On the back wall was a gorgeous stone throne, blue and white, covered in jewels of all kinds and ornate carvings of lions and angelic faces. There were a few small steps leading up to the throne, each covered in paintings of vines and branches. The walls were decorated with incredibly impressive paintings, depicting dragons and demons, warriors and angels, wolves and heroes, all interspersed with huge black torches with angry flickering yellow flames. On the far side of the hall was a titanic black door that completely sealed off the room from the outside world. There were no windows, so that door was the only way in and out of the hall that Twilight could see.

Twilight glanced up and saw a large green bar beside her head with three matching bars above it. Her name was printed in block capital letters underneath the four bars and as she turned her head, they all followed her. They clearly weren’t physical and from the looks of things they were completely harmless. While she was checking the throne for secrets, Twilight could hear a rumbling sound behind her. She leapt behind the throne as the door at the opposite end of the hall slowly slid open. As the door opened wider, the lanterns on the walls roared into life, illuminating the entire room even further. Through the door stepped two humans.

Both of the humans were quite young from their appearance and were dressed somewhat bizarrely. One was male, with a relatively messy short, black mane that stopped just above his eyes. His skin was pale and his sapphire eyes burned with an inner fire that outshone even the lanterns. He wore a long black coat with a large metal buckle on the right lapel connected to a leather strap that went across his entire body. Black fingerless gloves encased his hands and a pair of huge black boots protected his feet. On his back was a sword, also black, with a beautifull cross shaped design on the guard. At his hip, Twilight could see another blade peeking out from under his coat. It was turquoise and from what Twilight could tell, appeared to be entirely crystalline in structure.
The other human looked far more feminine than her companion. She had a long red-brown mane that fell down to just above her hip. Her eyes held a soft amber glow that had an intensity behind them that Twilight had never really seen before but still retained much of their youthful innocence. Her armour was white and red, dotted with well placed cross emblems. Instead of trousers, her armour ended in a skirt that came halfway down her thigh. Her legs were covered by long red and white socks that Twilight assumed were of more use than merely being a fashion choice. Her back was covered by a regal white cape and her sleeves were apparently not attached to any other part of her clothing. An incredibly ornate rapier clung to her side, encased in a crimson scabbard. Before either of them could react though, the door behind them sealed itself shut.

“Damn!” The male said as he ran over to the door. He pulled and pulled with as much force as he could muster, but the huge stone door would not budge an inch. The female ran over to try and help, but it was useless. The male reached into a pocket in his coat and withdrew a large blue crystal. He handed it to the female with a sense of urgency on his face. “Asuna, try using this to get out of here.”

The female, who Twilight reasoned must have been called Asuna, gratefully accepted the crystal with a nod. She tapped it once and held it out in front of her, seemingly expecting something to happen.
“Well,” the boy spoke again. “I guess that means we’re on our own this time.”
Asuna nodded and drew her sword. The boy reached behind his back and withdrew his black blade and held it out in front of himself. The motion was so precise, so relaxed the Twilight had no doubt that this was not the first time he had swung a sword in combat. With a sigh, he spoke to Asuna again.
“Ok, I think we should take this thing down the same way we always do. I’ll go in first and break the defence, you follow up with a quicker attack to keep it off balance. We keep switching in and out like that, never giving this thing a chance to attack, we should have no problem.”
With a sigh, Asuna agreed to the boys strategy. It was obvious to Twilight that she trusted him completely.

Twilight Sparkle didn’t really know what to make of either of them. The boy was clearly the stronger of the two physically and given the nature of Asuna’s armour, she was probably faster. However, since Twilight hadn’t actually seen the extent of their abilities at all,these observations were purely academic. What was important was the fact that they clearly had a plan of attack, which was more than could be said for Twilight. Given the layout of the arena, surprise was not really an option for her and since the two human fighters’ teleportation technique hadn’t worked, it was probably safe to assume that hers would be ineffective as well. She could probably teleport within the confines of the hall, but that would be it. Her opponents both had green bars next to their heads too, but they had only one in place of Twilight’s four. There was a soft scraping noise as both fighters drew a sword and readied themselves for battle.

Twilight Sparkle knew that with the element of surprise gone and only a limited amount of information she could gather from mere observation of her enemies, she decided to come out of hiding. Slowly, the purple unicorn stepped out from behind the throne. The two humans whirled round to face her directly and looked at her with a look of confusion more than anything else.

“Kirito?” Asuna said to her male companion. “Is- Is that a pony?”
The male warrior, Kirito, just nodded slowly with a look of complete bewilderment. Clearly they hadn’t been expecting a unicorn to be their opponent. Whatever they had been ready for, Twilight wasn’t it. Neither Kirito nor Asuna knew quite how to respond to the little pony before them and their uncertainty caused Twilight’s resolve to falter slightly. Now that she could see them more clearly, she realised just how young they really were. The pair of them couldn’t have been more than children and they were just as scared as she was, under all their armour. Twilight began to doubt herself again. However two things reaffirmed her commitment to the fight. The first was an image of Spike coming into her head again, as he was just before he died. The other was Kirito pulling his black sword behind his back and launching his first assault.

“It doesn’t matter if she’s a pony, a goblin or a damned pixie! She’s still the boss fight on this floor and if we ever hope to escape we have to destroy her, here and now!”

Twilight took note of Kirito’s impressive speed before firing a blast of magic from her horn. Kirito had about one second in which he could demonstrate his surprise at Twilight’s attack, before the beam of purple light smashed into his chest. The black clad warrior was thrown backwards several feet before hitting the floor and tumbling a few times. Asuna bellowed Kirito’s name and ran over to him. THe green bar beside his head had shrunk a little bit and he looked somewhat dazed. Twilight reasoned that the bar must be some kind of damage gauge. She theorised that if she could deplete both Kirito and Asuna’s bars completely, they would be defeated. Kirito stood up and grabbed a hold of his black sword again, leaving his blue crystalline sword still at his hip.

“Asuna,” Kirito heaved, still getting his breath back. “I think that perhaps you ought to break her defence. You’re faster than I am, so you pin her down and then I’ll switch in and hit her while she’s weak.” Asuna nodded but Kirito grabbed her sleeve before she ran off. “Be careful.”

Asuna nodded again and leapt into the air. Kirito had been fast, but Asuna was something else entirely. In the space of a second she had gone from Kirito’s side to being almost directly above Twilight Sparkle. Her rapier began to glow green and before Twilight had a chance to react, a barrage of green light was cascading down on top of her. Three of the beams tore through her body before she managed to teleport out of the way. She knew that she should be dead. Her body had been pierced right through three times, yet she was somehow still alive. She glanced up and saw that the first of her health bars had been depleted by almost a fifth. Asuna was already sprinting towards her, sword at her side ready to be used again. Twilight was not going to let that happen. She took a step to the side and constructed a wall of purple magic. The wall grew upwards quickly, thumping Asuna in the stomach and knocking her into the sky. Twilight teleported above her and sent Asuna straight back down to the ground with a single powerful burst of magic.

Unfortunately, Twilight had been so focussed on Asuna that she hadn’t noticed Kirito running towards her at top speed. The black blade sliced straight through her body, unleashing a flash of white light as she was thrown across the room. Her first life bar had been reduced to only about a quarter of what it had been initially. Twilight had expected Kirito to go to Asuna after that vicious onslaught, but he was already attacking again. Twilight Sparkle didn’t have time to teleport, she could only try to dodge and block his assault. However, every slash that she stopped was followed up with another that found its target. Soon Twilight was reduced to only three of her life bars and she had still barely made a dent in Kirito’s. There was a look in his eyes that bubbled with rage and vengeance. Twilight knew exactly how he felt and she could understand exactly what he wanted to do.

But that was the very reason why she couldn’t back down. Kirito swung his blade at her again and Twilight responded with a pulse of magical energy straight to the face. Before Kirito even hit the floor, Asuna was charging in again. Twilight’s last attack had depleted about a quarter of Asuna’s life, but she wasn’t exactly in the danger zone just yet.

Twilight was prepared this time. She trapped Asuna in a forcefield of magic and began pumping more and more magic into it. The effect of this increased the temperature and pressure inside enough to cause Asuna a fair amount of damage. More than anything else though, this technique infected Asuna with a poison that would make her much slower and weaker. Twilight focussed garder, feeling her powers being amplified. It was a feeling she had only felt once before, in the Crystal Empire when she dispelled King Sombra’s Illusion technique. Sparks began to fly around the inside of the forcefield, ripping through Asuna and forcing her life bar down even further. All of the hate and anger that Twilight felt was being concentrated into her attack. She could feel a harsh tingling sensation around her eyes as black clouds began to form. Spears of black magic erupted inside the forcefield and Twilight heard the anguished wail of Asuna as her body was ripped apart in many places. Twilight relished the feeling of this power. There was no way that she would lose to Discord with magic like that.

Across the hall, Kirito roared and charged straight into Twilight, breaking her focus and causing the force field containing Asuna to crumble. Kirito plunged his blade deep into Twilight’s body and forced her up against one of the pillars. He withdrew his blade and slashed the pony so heavily that she was sent careering through the air, landing in a crumpled heap on the floor halfway across the room. Twilight staggered to her hooves as she saw Kirito run over to Asuna. His life bar was still only about two thirds of its original size, but Asuna was in a much worse state. Twilight’s imprisonment technique had exhausted almost all of Asuna’s remaining life force, leaving only a thin red line left of her. Kirito tenderly picked her up and laid her down next to a pillar. Twilight still had the shadows swirling around her eyes as Kirito kissed Asuna sweetly before getting up and turning to face her. Twilight still had two full bars of health left, but for some reason the look of sheer determination on Kirito’s face scared her a little.

“All right,” Kirito said, his voice full of anger. “Now I’m going to kill you.” Kirito stretched out his hand and stroked the air in front of him. A white panel opened in front of him and he swiftly tapped one of the sub sections. A second panel opened out of the first and once again Kirito tapped a specific section creating yet another panel. He stroked the panel, sliding the sections upwards. Eventually, he came across a sequence of symbols and an emblem that looked like two crossed swords. He touched it lightly and it glowed orange for a few seconds before each of the panels closed again. Kirito reached to his hip and drew his second sword. It was absolutely beautiful to behold, a pure work of art. The turquoise blade was almost completely straight except for the tip, which was wider than the rest. The guard resembled two new leaves, clinging delicately to the branch of a tree. Twilight couldn’t help but feel somewhat taken aback by the beauty of the sword.

“This is my unique skill,” Kirito growled at Twilight. “Dual Blades! I can now strike at you with the force of Elucidator and the Dark Repulsor together. I will not forgive you for what you did to Asuna. Do you understand!?”
With a howl, Kirito threw himself at Twilight. He was much faster than before and Twilight was only just able to dodge out of the way of the black blade. However, the blue sword was already flying towards her and she couldn’t avoid it in time. She took the full hit of the sword and was launched across the room. Somehow, she managed to land on her hooves, but Kirito was already attacking her again. Twilight let a blast of dark magic fly from her horn towards the swordsman, but Kirito just sidestepped out of the way. He leapt at the pony and his blades began to glow. The blue sword swung up and caught Twilight in the chest. using the momentum from this strike, Kirito slid his black blade along the ground and drove it straight through Twilight’s body. The pony rotated a few times in mid air before landing heavily on the ground.

Kirito quickly slid up beside her and using both blades tossed Twilight into the air. Her health was falling lower and lower, and Kirito was not letting up at all. It was like he was an entirely different person. Kirito twisted and leaped into the air, holding both of his blades above his head. In one strike he skewered Twilight with both swords and with a roar he hurled her back to the ground.

Twilight took this opportunity to teleport over to the door, to put some distance between herself and Kirito. This was a very wise decision as Kirito flew down into the dust cloud that Twilight had made when she crashed into the ground a few seconds ago. Before the fighter could work out that his target was missing, Twilight built up a considerable amount of magic in her horn, imbuing it with darkness. As soon as kirito emerged from the smoke, Twilight let loose an unholy barrage of dark magic, delivered by her Gatling gun technique. Kirito just charged right through most of the blasts like a machine. He took at least seven hits from her super charged attack without even slowing down at all. Realising that her attack wasn’t working, Twilight generated four disks of magic under her hooves so that she could move with the same speed as Kirito. Teleportation wasn’t going to be enough to beat Kirito, she would have to be able to fight him toe-to-toe in order to beat him. Seeing as her third health bar had been almost completely depleted, it was probably best that she end this soon.

Kirito was utterly relentless. He kept attacking, sending slash after slash at Twilight Sparkle, never faltering once and never slowing down. His swords began to glow as he threw himself into a sixteen point assault against the unicorn. Twilight managed to black twelve of the hits, but the remaining four strikes slashed her heavily across the face. It was pointless waiting for a break in his attack pattern, so Twilight’s only remaining strategy was a strong counterattack. Since she was still using dark magic, she decided to try and negate Kirito’s Dual Blades skill. Seeing as his second sword was made of crystals, if Twilight could imbue it with her black magic, she should be able to destroy it. Twilight conjured a tendril of black smoke that threw itself out and latched onto Kirito’s sword. Gradually, the turquoise sword turned darker and darker until it had gone completely black. Twilight forced her magic through the sword, trying to snap it, but no matter how hard she tried the sword remained in one piece. She needed a new strategy, but Kirito’s swords interrupted her train of thought by slashing her across the chest, eliminating what remained of her third health bar.

Twilight was scared now. Really scared. Kirito still had twenty percent of his health left, and he wasn’t even slowing down. Evasion and precision hadn’t worked against him, and carefully formulated techniques were no match for his speed and strength. Twilight only had one trick left: pure unadulterated aggression. No more crafting her magic into careful beams or structured patterns, she would unleash the more destructive side of her magic. She turned to face Kirito, who was almost on top of her again, and allowed the magic to flood out of her. A black and purple wall shimmered into existence and smashed straight into Kirito. The overwhelming force of Twilight’s full magical ability launched Kirito through the air and straight into a pillar on the far side of the room. The strike was so powerful that it obliterated almost all of his remaining health and and left him with just a small red section. Before Kirito had a chance to recover, Twilight pinned his wrists and ankles to the pillar behind him and using her magic threw his swords away.

Kirito was broken and weak, but he still showed some fighting spirit. Twilight was loath to drag the fight on any longer, so she charged up a beam of magic in her horn. Kirito didn’t look away as she fired it straight into his face, forcing what remained of his health into nothingness. Before he died, Kirito found the strength to release a final whisper.
“Forgive me...Asuna...”

Kirito’s body exploded into hundreds of beautiful blue and white shards of light. The polygons drifted away from the pillar and over the two swords that had guided Kirito through the fight. Some distance away, Asuna was breathing heavily. Twilight turned and saw the totally heartbroken look on the girls face as she came to the realisation that her friend, her lover, was now no more.
“KIRITO!”
The wounded warrior woman wailed and got to her feet. She took up her sword and charged at Twilight, murder in her eyes. But Twilight’s poison spell was taking effect, and she didn’t have anywhere near as much speed as she had at the start of the fight. Twilight Sparkle simply stepped into Asuna’s attack and kicked her to the floor, knocking her sword away from her. The unicorn stood over the quivering form of Asuna, who refused to even look at her. Tears rolled down the young girls cheeks and Twilight hesitated slightly before building her magic. Asuna had just watched someone she loved deeply die, a feeling she knew only too well. She took a deep breath and bowed her head over her next victim.

“I’m sorry,” she said, before blowing Asuna away with an impressive blast of magic.

Asuna’s pixels drifted over to the bright white portal that had opened up beside an exhausted Twilight Sparkle. She had used too much magic in this fight, and tapping into her dark powers was difficult to maintain for very long. Before she stepped through the portal, she looked back at the three discarded swords that had landed next to one another, through some trick of fate. Twilight felt something strange as she stared at the ownerless swords, or more importantly, she didn’t feel something that she should have done. She was sorry that Kirito and Asuna were dead, but the bizarre thing was that she didn’t feel anything else. She wasn’t angry or sad that she had just murdered two innocent and probably good people, nor was she relieved that her brawl was over. Whether it was everything with Spike, or the dark magic she had used, or some combination of the two, Twilight’s heart had almost entirely hardened. The only thing she cared about now was destroying Discord, and anyone foolish enough to stand in her way would feel her wrath...

Author's Note

So, this is a chapter involving one of my favourite series, Sword Art Online. If you haven't seen it, you should. As for how this fight panned out, ask me in the comments and I'll explain how and why everything worked out that way.

Kirito and Asuna: Sword Art Online.

Duke Nukem vs Rarity

Once Rarity stepped out of the portal, she threw herself to the floor, wailing in absolute anguish. She was too late. She hadn’t been able to get to Sweetie Belle in time and because of that she was probably dead. The thought of what those vile statues were doing to her sister made Rarity shiver with nausea. And the worst part was that it was all her fault. She should have tried harder, run faster, done something more. Perhaps if she had, Sweetie Belle would still be alive, but she wasn’t. And Rarity would have to live with that fact for the rest of her remaining life span, however short it may be. That said, there were three other beasts whom Rarity held accountable for her sisters grisly demise, and by Celestia they would suffer even if it was the last thing she ever did. Discord, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, the three demons orchestrating this macabre spectacle, they would be made to suffer and die the way Sweetie Belle undoubtedly did.

Unfortunately for Rarity, her rage and righteous indignation did not hold for very long and she curled up in a little ball on the soft red carpet and wept bitterly, interspersing her sobs with the name Sweetie Belle and the occasional whisper of “I’m so sorry.” Her little sister, that adorable little filly, was dead. No one would ever find her, lay her to rest or truly understand the hideous manner in which she passed away. Never again would she beg Rarity to do things together as sisters, nor would she somehow burn her juice. Never again would her beautiful voice grace the ears of ponies near and far and no more would she be hunting every day for a way to earn her cutie mark. Without Sweetie Belle, Rarity stopped caring about the survival game, the fact that her next opponent was undoubtedly here hunting for her or about life in general. If not for the lingering desire to torture and slay Discord, Nightmare Moon and Chrysalis, Rarity would have been more than willing to simply let her next foe take her life without a fight. It was what she deserved for failing Sweetie Belle as a sister.

Everything about this world was just sick and wrong. Had Pinkie Pie and Derpy honestly been ready to cut each other down? Spike and Sweetie Belle had been murdered by demonic living statues. Rarity herself had savagely taken the life of both that young girl Toph and the warrior Esmeraude. This world was far darker and crueller than the one she had once known. But that world was long gone now, even if she did manage to survive this game. Nothing would ever be the way it used to be again. All that remained was this hell of blood, death and stone.

Rarity allowed herself to wallow and wail for well over an hour before she finally managed to regain some measure of composure. She found the power and strength of will somewhere to get herself to stand up, but movement was still impossible since her legs were still shaking uncontrollably. Looking around, Rarity could see that she had been placed in an impressive and ornate corridor, the walls painted gold and white, with a deep crimson carpet beneath her. All around her were golden statues of the same bespectacled, square jawed human. Initially, Rarity wondered if these statues were as deadly as the last ones she had encountered, but had that been the case they would have already attacked. Rarity reasoned that it was safe to assume that they were simply statues and nothing more. Each statue appeared to be holding a bizarre “L” shaped object in each hand, all studded with gems. Aside from those precious stones, there didn’t seem to be a lot else by way of weaponry for Rarity in the hallway. At the far end of the corridor, Rarity could hear something moving. Hesitantly, Rarity decided it would be best to investigate.

As she drew closer, Rarity could hear some rather peculiar moans and groans, accompanied by the occasional shout. The noises appeared to be coming from behind a heavy wooden door and as Rarity began to turn the handle, a much more distinctive voice could be heard. It was mostly grunting along in rhythm with the other groans, but occasionally there was a deep and raspy word uttered, something akin to “yeah baby.” The door creaked open under the influence of Rarity’s magic and the white pony was absolutely horrified by what lay before her. On a television screen on the wall, four humans were writhing around completely naked doing unspeakable things with one another. She looked across at the titanic four poster bed where a human male in a dirty red vest and grubby jeans lay, grunting along with the foul image on the screen. His hair was gelled up so as to resemble a hedgehog’s spines and his eyes were hidden behind a thick pair of black sunglasses. The human reached across the bed and grabbed a tall red can. He drained the contents in four loud glugs before releasing a horrendous belch. Smacking his lips, the human turned towards Rarity.

“Hey,” he growled. “Beat it pony, you’re interrupting Duke’s ‘me time’.”

Rarity stood there in the door way, mouth agape. This hideous being in front of her, stinking unlike anything she had ever experienced before and covered in stains of questionable origin was her opponent, of that she had no doubt. But there was something piteous about this human. He was so pathetic, languishing in his own hollow existence, a slave to hedonism and a sorry excuse for a life. Rarity was almost loath to slay this man. She just stood there for a while as the human (he had referred to himself as Duke) began to shout profanities and gesticulate towards her, trying to decide how best to proceed.

That was when it hit her. Duke, this hideous wretch before her was still alive. A horrific waste of an existence, drowning himself in pleasures and shallow living with absolutely no promise and no future to speak of. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle was rotting away in that godforsaken maze with the homicidal Angels. What sort of cruel injustice is it, that a beast of a man like Duke was permitted to continue his meaningless existence, whereas Sweetie Belle’s bright young future was forever extinguished? Such a mistake must be rectified. Rarity began to physically seethe with rage, all of her anger at the Weeping Angels, Discord, Nightmare Moon, Crysalis and the universe in general bubbled up and exploded as she threw herself at the somewhat surprised Duke.

The suddenness of Rarity’s attack had caught Duke off guard and that made his reaction a bit too slow. Rarity landed heavily on his chest and slammed her hooves down on him with impressive force. The hit should have at least broken a rib, but Duke seemed to be more solidly built that she had previously anticipated. With barely a seconds hesitation, Rarity thrust her head forward, slamming her forehead into Duke’s face. Her horn wasn’t sharp enough to puncture his skin, but her skull was hard enough to shatter his nose. Duke tried to tried to shout, but Rarity had winded him with her first attack. Duke’s left arm shot up instinctively to the bloody mess in the middle of his face where his nose should have been. His right hand followed swiftly and punched Rarity solidly in the head. The pony was thrown off of Duke’s torso and into the wall a few feet away.

Rarity hit the floor, but quickly got back to her hooves, ready to continue the fight. Duke chugged down the liquid from another tall can, crushed it and hurled the little ball of metal right at Rarity. He missed, by several inches, but the force of the throw was impressive enough to let Rarity know that Duke was not going to be as easy to defeat as she had previously hoped. Rarity sidestepped to put a little bit more distance between herself and Duke as the human swung his legs off the bed and staggered to his feet.

Duke was a goliath of a man, standing over six feet tall. His muscles rippled under his skin, mountains of power that were waiting to be released. He stomped towards Rarity, his huge combat boots causing the ground to shake underneath her to shake. He pulled up his knee and threw his foot at Rarity. She tried to dodge, but Duke’s Mighty Boot was too big and too fast and the heel caught her rump. With a yelp, Rarity was thrown through the door on the other side of the room. Duke laughed loudly “good thing ponies look like donkeys, because I really kick ass!”

Out in the hallway, Rarity was quick to her hooves again. That kick would have done a lot of damage to almost any other pony, but Rarity was different. While she liked to give the impression of a demure and delicate mare, more suited to delicacy and finesse than physical labour, her body was actually a lot more sturdy than one might imagine. Years of pulling along heavy crates of gem stones and the occasional bolder had made her tougher physically that many of Celestia’s royal guards. A hit like the one she had just received would possibly disable her temporarily, but it wouldn’t actually hurt her too much. Her beautiful white rump would be showing a very impressive bruise though. To her right, Rarity could hear a soft click and she turned to face Duke.

That was when she realised what the L shaped objects the statues had been holding were. Guns. They were different to the ones that the ponies had been developing, but the overall concept appeared to be the same. If that was the case, then Rarity knew that she had to get out of the way of the solid gold fire arm that was currently trained on her forehead. Thankfully, Duke was still wobbling from the effects of the thing he had been drinking (presumably some form of alcohol) and so his aim was not as keen as it might otherwise have been. There was a loud bang and a hole opened up in the wall where Rarity’s head had been a second earlier. Duke turned and levelled his other pistol at the retreating image of Rarity. His finger twitched and another bullet flew past Rarity’s head. The white unicorn dashed down a corridor to her left and charged as fast as she could to get away.

The thuds of Duke’s combat boots became softer as Rarity continued her escape. Duke was absolutely huge compared to the other humans she had faced, and she was absolutely positive that if Duke ever managed to actually hit her with one of his guns, it would put a serious dent in her chances of winning. No matter how strong she was, Rarity could only take so much punishment before her body just gave up on her, and she could not allow that to happen. If she died here, she would be robbed of the chance to avenge Sweetie Belle, which was not something that she could allow. Discord, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon would suffer greatly for what they did to her sister. Through sheer force of will and determination, Rarity managed to clear her mind and focus on exactly how best to deal with Duke.

At present, she was vastly out matched. Duke had guns, superior strength and was in a familiar terrain. Rarity was unarmed, running blind and unable to shield herself from bullets. She did however have the advantage of speed and she could also use magic. She wasn’t as adept at spell casting as Twilight Sparkle, so her offensive magic was somewhat ineffective. However, given her life and career in Ponyville, she was fairly competent with levitation. Capable of lifting very heavy objects and moving them around with ease. With that in mind, Rarity realised that she wasn’t so defenceless after all. This entire world was her armoury. Statues, light fittings, wires, paintings, chairs, tables, everything that could move could be used as her weapon.

Rarity slammed through a beautiful set of hand carved oak doors and stood on the balcony above an impressive atrium. She was on the first floor, the deep crimson carpet under her hooves still luxuriously soft. The balcony was narrow, the back wall covered with doors. Clearly this was some kind of central area of the building, designed to be a gathering place from which it was easy to disperse throughout the building. In between the doors were statues of Duke in various poses, accentuating his muscles and showing off an array of weaponry. On the atrium side of the balcony, the whole structure seemed to be supported by thick white columns of marble. A solid oak bannister is all that separated Rarity from a fairly hefty fall to the ground below. Looking out from her lofty perch, Rarity could see that the hall beneath her was not decorated in the same way as the rest of the building appeared to be. The red carpet was still there, but instead of covering the whole floor, it travelled in a single line from the large double doors on the far side all the way around the water feature in the centre and then back in on itself to the door, allowing the black and white checked tiles to be clearly seen.

The water feature itself was highly impressive. A full marble basin of shimmering water sparkled as a solid gold statue of Duke unceremoniously urinated into it. The whole thing was impressive yes, but utterly repulsive at the same time. Above the fountain hung a crystal chandelier, grand as any in Caterlot. It would have been exquisitely beautiful in anyone else’s possession.

Everything about Duke actively offended Rarity. He was rude, arrogant, oafish, self-absorbed and totally brutish. In short, he was everything that Sweetie Belle had not been. Thoughts returned to Rarity of how unfair it was that Sweetie Belle had perished in such a foul place and tears spawned afresh in her eyes. That thought was all the motivation she needed. Rarity positioned herself in the centre of the balcony, looking all around at every possible entrance that Duke could use so that she wouldn’t be taken by surprise. That said, Rarity didn’t really believe that surprise was really Duke’s style. He seemed to be far more likely to just charge headlong into a brawl and hope for the best.

Within seconds, Rarity’s suspicions were confirmed. A huge explosion drew her attention to the double doors on the ground floor. Out of the encircling dust cloud, Duke strode out looking remarkably pleased with himself. Over his left shoulder was what looked like a short length of pipe, but the smoke slithering out of the end betrayed its true destructive purpose. Duke laughed loudly before declaring loudly “Heeeeeere’s Johnny!”

Rarity had absolutely no idea what Duke was talking about, but it didn’t really matter that much. The human pulled out what Rarity could only assume was another type of gun and aimed. His right hand wrapped around the grip and trigger, his left held the barrel loosely. The weapon was held at hip height, but the barrel was tilted up towards Rarity. Duke smiled crookedly and breathed out slowly.
“Hail to the king, baby!”

Before Rarity had a chance to be confused, the weapon in Duke’s hands exploded, sending a volley of bullets flying all around her. Rarity leapt to the side and rolled behind a marble pillar as the onslaught from Duke’s weapon followed. Splinters of wood and chips of stone flew past her, and sparks flew as the bullets ricocheted off of the pillar she was hiding behind. The noise was absolutely deafening. Rarity made herself as small as she possibly could to avoid taking a hit. She knew that if Duke kept her pinned here, eventually she’d be killed. What she needed to do was give herself an opening, a lull in Duke’s attack so that she could press her counter attack. While Duke’s gun was holding her on the defensive, she was doomed, but if she could just catch a break, even if it was only a few seconds, she could perhaps do some damage. A plan quickly formed in her mind. All she needed was her chance.

After a few more seconds, Duke stopped firing to reload. The process only took about five seconds, but that was more than enough time for Rarity to make her move. She leapt out from behind her pillar and, using her magic, hurled one of Duke’s statues at the chain supporting the chandelier, causing the whole thing to come crashing down into the atrium. Duke toppled backwards out of the way, dropping his gun in the process. Rarity wasn’t going to give him the chance to recover. She charged along the balcony, plucking the gems out of every statue along the way and levitating them around her head as she ran.

At the end of the balcony, Rarity jumped nimbly onto the bannister that wound around the staircase down into the atrium and let herself slide down. Twisting her hooves to keep her balance, Rarity was able to slide down the bannister with ease. The gems that she had stolen began to spin around in little groups, faster and faster as she slid down. As Duke got to his feet, Rarity began to hurl the gems at him in bursts of three at a time. Since Rarity could normally thread a needle whilst simultaneously measuring out a length of fabric and tacking together a garment, her aim was what could only be described as exceptional. However, throwing gems at high speed while sliding down a bannister in her current emotional state, it was not entirely surprising that many of her missiles missed their target. But those gems that did strike had a devastating effect. Some of the smaller gems had ripped clean through Duke’s body, resulting in a small red spray every time. The larger ones either embedded themselves in his flesh, generating little streams of blood, or they simply bounced off of his muscle bound body. Nevertheless, each impact had the desired effect of damaging Duke further.

Rarity reached the bottom of the stairs and hurled the remainder of her gems at Duke in a constant stream. Duke staggered slightly, bleeding from several small wounds that had opened up all over his body. Some of them gave the impression of being quite serious, but most of them appeared to be mostly superficial. Duke reached behind himself and drew out another tall red can and a plastic jar, full of some kind of pills. Duke tore the top of the jar off with his teeth and tipped the entire contents into his throat. He crushed the can in his hand and chugged as much of the liquid as he could through his new improvised openings, while most of the substance sloshed onto his chin and shirt. He straightened up his head and wiped his chin clean with his hand. When his gaze returned to Rarity, he seemed different.

Duke was somehow revitalised, and that was absolutely terrifying. Despite being about twenty feet away from Rarity, Duke started running straight towards her. He was much faster than before, despite his injuries and Rarity had very little time to react. Before she could do anything, Duke had scooped Rarity up with his left hand and held her aloft, choking her. He glared into her face for a second before tossing her into the air. Duke clasped his hands together and twisted his body to the side.
“Batter up!”

As Rarity plummeted towards the ground, Duke swung his arms and slammed both fists into Rarity’s side. Rarity felt the air rush out of her lungs accompanied by an unhealthy splash of blood. She heard the sickening crack of bones breaking and she knew that she had broken at least a rib, probably a lot more. Her flight was cut short by the torso of Duke’s urinating statue. Her hip was almost completely shattered by the impact and Rarity fell limply into the water, only to have her skin sliced open by hundreds of shards of broken glass from the chandelier. The clear water swiftly took on a more crimson shade, and Rarity would have howled in agony had she any air left in her body, but all she could muster was to seal her eyes shut and writhe around in the bloody water, noiselessly screaming.

Duke approached more slowly, clearly the effects of the pills he had taken were wearing off. Rarity didn’t even acknowledge him until he was almost on top of her. Barely able to even think coherently, Rarity reached out for the chain of the chandelier with her magic and chucked it at Duke. The chain struck his neck with enough force to knock him to the ground as it wrapped around into a strangle hold. Rarity knew that she didn’t have a lot of time, her injuries were severe and Duke had already proved his unwillingness to just die. She needed to finish this fight now. She was losing a lot of blood, and her vision was getting increasingly blurry. Her front right hoof was completely unusable, and her hip prevented her from being able to move the back two, and the remaining left hoof was in intolerable agony. Rarity looked around for a weapon that she could use from this position. She didn’t know how long her magic would be able to hold out, but she needed to try something.

Lying in the pool, right next to Rarity, was the statue that she had thrown at the chandelier. Rarity didn’t know whether she still had the strength to lift it, but perhaps through sheer determination and force of will she could do it. She focused as well as she could on the statue and tried to force it up. Initially, nothing happened, but then the statue started to rattle. Another push from Rarity and the statue was in the air. Rarity rotated it so that it was stood up straight and moved the testament to Duke over to the subject’s head. Duke’s eyes widened in horror as he realised what was about to happen. Rarity released her grip and the black marble base came down heavily on Duke’s face. There was a gruesome squishy crunch as Duke’s skull collapsed, permitting the softer things within to be squeezed out, like juice from a grape.

Duke’s arms and legs spasmed for a few seconds before falling still. There was a grisly splatter of blood, flecked with specks of brain and skull all around the statue. And Rarity didn’t even care. In fact, it was more than just not caring. Rarity was glad that Duke was dead. She was glad that she had been the one to end his miserable existence and she was glad that she had made him suffer as she did so. She didn’t even feel the pain anymore she had lost so much blood and as the portal opened up beneath her, she rejoiced in the fact that she was now one step closer to facing Discord, Chrysalis and Nightmare Moon…

Author's Note

Hey fellas, sorry for the wait. I'm moving country in about a months time and the preparations for that (considering I'm also going to Uni) are a bleeding nightmare. Add in the fact that I just got back from a trip around the Benelux countries with Prince Luna (wherein I may or may not have drunk too much whiskey) and I just haven't been in the position to write. But here it is, first draft finished in the back of the bus from Amsterdam to London and then edited and typed up as you see it, the long promised Rarity vs Duke Nukem.

I don't know whether or not I will be able to write again for some time, but the next match is Fluttershy vs the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog. See you then fellas

Fluttershy vs the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog

The portal deposited Fluttershy roughly in the middle of a barren wasteland. The sky was granite grey, with the hulking storm clouds swirling and drifting menacingly above. The turbulent sky was mirrored almost exactly by the land. Mountains sprang forth from the land, a law unto themselves, each one threateningly craggy and steep. Shale and loose stones lay scattered about the ground, like poisoned sprinkles on a rotted cake. A gentle rain of ash alluded to the presence of a volcano somewhere in the vicinity, but Fluttershy couldn’t pinpoint exactly where. Above everything, the arena was freezing cold. Fluttershy shivered violently as a breeze sliced through her as easily as a knife through melted butter. Her breath steamed in front of her face as she made her way forward towards the nearest ridge.

A tear rolled uncontrolled down her cheek. Spike? Sweetie Belle? That couldn’t have happened, surely. Fluttershy wretched and was grateful that she had nothing in her belly to throw up. She could still hear the horrifying sound of Twilight shrieking as she realised what was happening to Spike. Fluttershy’s fragile sensibilities shattered and she threw herself down on the stony ground, wailing like a banshee. She was furious about everything that was happening, horrified at herself for the cruelties she had enacted on others, deeply upset for what had happened to Sweetie Belle and Spike, but more than anything she was scared. It was an awesome, all-encompassing terror that chilled her to the core, more so than any wind ever could. She was terrified of what new fiend would be presented to her as an opponent, whether she would emerge victorious or…

But worse still was the fear for her friends, and of her friends. Everyone was going through a similar ordeal, but they were changing as ponies in very different ways. As Pinkie Pie was duelling Derpy, it was obvious that she hated what she was doing. Yet there had been a gleam in her eye, a twitch in her lip that relished the motions of combat. Pinkie Pie had hated fighting Derpy, but she had also undoubtedly enjoyed the anticipation of murder.
Fluttershy remembered her own reaction to the brawl with the Gremlins that had been her second fight. Mingled fear and pain had warped her mind and given rise to a far crueller, more deadly being. She had relished the feeling of controlling and subsequently ending them, one by one. If she allowed that to happen again, if she allowed that side of her to take control another time, she wasn’t sure she’d ever truly recover from it.

Attempting to hold herself together, Fluttershy staggered onward. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to find her foe or not, but if she didn’t keep moving, the odds were that she wouldn’t be able to again for quite some time. The stones shifted under her hooves uncomfortably, but she kept going. The ridge revealed a valley below; just as inhospitable as the rest of the area, but as she looked closer Fluttershy was able to make out the dark entrance of a cave. Whether it was a fully-fledged tunnel or just a cave, empty or occupied, Fluttershy couldn’t tell at this distance, but at least it was a potential shelter from the icy bite of the wind.

“I wouldn’t be so hasty if I were you, little pony.”

Fluttershy jumped and barely managed to stifle a scream. Beside her stood a man, short by human standards but still taller than Fluttershy. Everything about him was ugly, from his old twisted face, to his filthy black furs. In fact, his clothes were so ragged and filthy that he resembled more beast than man. Attached to his head were two curly, mismatched horns.

“That tunnel there be guarded by a ferocious beastie!”

His voice was high pitched and it grated in his throat as though he spoke through pebbles, lodged in his neck. There was undeniable urgency in his tone, but there was a mad glint in his black eyes that really put Fluttershy on edge. There was something strange about him, something in the way he stood, or the way he spoke that was disconcertingly familiar. Fluttershy didn’t know if she should start running away, or pay closer attention to this bizarre creature. Before she could make up her mind, he stretched out a hand and pointed beyond her into the canyon below.

“Look missy, look. There it is! The fearsome beast itself!”

Fluttershy stared down at the cave, unsure of what it was she was supposed to be looking at. The man beside her was clearly terrified of it, but she couldn’t see anything. Was her opponent invisible? For one horrifying instant, Fluttershy considered the prospect of having to fight another creature akin to the Weeping Angels. Before too long, her gaze focussed on a little white shape, ambling lazily across the stones. It took her less than a second to recognise the shape of a rabbit. Instinctively, Fluttershy gasped and took off, only to come thudding back down to the ground when the man beside her grabbed the end of her tail.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Fluttershy demanded. “There’s something down there, and I have to save that cute little bunny, now let me go!”

“That’s no more a bunny than I am missy,” the man replied, harsher than Fluttershy would have liked. His mouth was turned into a comical kind of frown. “Listen here, little pony, and listen well. That rabbit has wiped out entire armies. That rabbit has slain knights, lords and kings as easy as peasants. That rabbit guards the way to the Holy Grail. That rabbit is the deadliest monster I have ever laid my eyes on. That rabbit, is the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog!”

Fluttershy almost laughed out loud at the prospect. What sort of madness was this fool spouting? Killer rabbits? The very idea was ridiculous. Fluttershy had spent her entire life since arriving in Ponyville caring for bunnies, nursing bunnies, learning about bunnies, talking to bunnies, loving bunnies, playing with bunnies and not even once had she ever encountered (or even heard of) a killer bunny. Bunny rabbits were cute, snuggly, adorable, occasionally bad tempered, but they were not homicidal. As she watched the lazy amblings of the “killer bunny,” Fluttershy found herself relaxing little by little. How could anyone ever be scared of a little bunny rabbit?

Seemingly sensing her doubt, the man released his grip on her tail. Fluttershy wondered if the madman on the mountain beside her was her true opponent and he had just been trying to throw her off the scent. Without a word, Fluttershy beat her wings and gently glided down into the valley. She flicked her slender yellow wings a little to make sure that she landed softly and she touched down about twenty feet away from the rabbit, making sure not to startle it. She made herself as small as she possibly could and slowly crept towards the rabbit, whispering soft phrases like “hello new friend” and “don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”

When she was fifteen feet away, the bunny looked up at her. Fluttershy stopped, worried that she had frightened the poor thing, but she couldn’t see any fear in the rabbits eyes. It seemed that it was just aware of her, no more and no less. Fluttershy felt that that was a little bit strange, but it didn’t matter. Judging from the environment, the poor thing probably hadn’t encountered another living being, so it was probably just curious, interested to know what this weird pink and yellow whispering thing was. She crept closer and closer, and the rabbit never once took its eyes off of her.

When Fluttershy reached a distance of ten feet, things began to get very strange. The rabbit began to hiss at her in a way that Fluttershy had never heard an animal hiss before. It wasn’t a nervous hiss that might be designed to deter a predator, it was deeper, angrier. There was a rage bubbling through the hiss that completely terrified Fluttershy.

One more step and the rabbit flew at her, pouncing like a timber wolf on a deer. Fluttershy started and instinctively thrust herself into the air. There was a horrifying crunch as the rabbits teeth hit stone. To Fluttershy’s horror, the bunny tore clean through the rock, turning it to a small powdery pile of rubble. In an instant, the rabbit hopped around and launched itself at Fluttershy, snarling hideously. The pegasus flashed her hoof out just in time to catch the rabbit on the head and intercept the attack. Without another moment’s hesitation, Fluttershy bolted back to her ridge on the mountain.

What was happening to reality? Bunnies didn’t kill ponies in real life, they didn’t snarl like wolverines or have jaws that could break through stones. They just didn’t! They were cute and fluffy and they represented everything that was lovely and enjoyable about the world…
And what if this is what passes for lovely now.
Fluttershy shook the thought from her head. She would not allow herself to lose control again. Not again. She didn’t like the cruel pony that wore her skin when she stopped being strong enough to hold her back. Fluttershy was the spirit of Kindness, that thing was not. But even as she tried to force the darker presence back into her subconscious, her gaze passed over the valley where the killer rabbit was waiting.

She hadn’t noticed before, but the whole valley was filled with occasional splashes of colour. Reds, blues, greens, yellows, purples, a kaleidoscope of grim and dusty finery. Shields with impressive patterns and sigils emblazoned on them stuck jaggedly out from between the stones, like small new mountains mimicking the ones around them. Surcoats, torn and tattered, slapped at the wind. Rings of mail and slabs of strong plate armour scattered the valley. An army of skeletons, all fallen victims of the Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog. Their bones littered the ground, cracked by time and teeth alike. Crimson roses speckled the tunics and surcoats, telling tales of how their wearers fell. The number of bodies was absolutely staggering. All of these men had been trained, armed and armoured, yet the rabbit tore through them as though they were little more than air.

Do you honestly believe that you can survive this thing without me?
Fluttershy didn’t fight back so hard this time.
Look at you, you’re absolutely pathetic. The only reason that you’re still alive at this stage is because I’ve had to come in at the eleventh hour and kill everyone for you. You haven’t the strength to do it yourself. Do you want to die?
Begrudgingly, Fluttershy shook her head.
Very good. But you will die, you know, if you try and take on the demonic rabbit again. You’re not strong enough, not even close. You lack the will and drive to kill, and so, you lack the desire to live.
Fluttershy knew it was true. She barely made it out of her last encounter with the rabbit alive. She wasn’t sure how she could possibly survive this.

I can help you fight again, if you want me to. I don’t want to die either, but unlike you, I’m not afraid to do what needs to be done to keep that from happening. To be honest, I couldn’t really care less whether or not you lived or died, but as long as I’m here I need you. You die, I die. Understand?
Fluttershy nodded. “So what do you want me to do?”
That’s very very simple. All you need to do is submit to me, let me inside your head and I will give you all the strength you need to get through this.

Fluttershy wasn’t sure. She hated the cruel voice that whispered in her head. She hated what it told her to do, what it told her to think. It had always been there, ever since she could remember, telling her that she was pathetic, worthless. It goaded her and insulted her and for most of her life she had listened and believed it. It had told her she was a useless flier and unfit to interact with other ponies. All she was good for was dealing with animals, far away from everyone else. She had let the voice govern her whole life, but she had never allowed it to possess her, not after what happened with her parents. All it had taken was for Fluttershy to allow the voice to enter her mind and when she awoke her parents were nowhere to be found. That had been eleven years ago, but she still had no idea where they were or what had happened to them. All she did know was that the voice had something to do with it.

However, she had seen what could happen if her concentration lapsed and she unintentionally let the voice in for a while. It had destroyed Katniss, when all Fluttershy could do was run away. It had eliminated the gremlins too. The voice was able to survive in a place like this, and it was capable of keeping her alive too. Perhaps, at this stage, keeping herself alive was what she should be really caring about. The voice could do things that Fluttershy couldn’t even dream of. It could fight, it could kill, it could survive. She understood that the voice needed her to stay alive too. They may not like each other, but they relied on one another to stay alive. Maybe, just this once in this arena, the enemy of her enemy was her friend?

Fluttershy felt the tendrils of shadow beginning to squirm inside her head as she released her restraints and granted the voice full access to her mind.
Good choice she heard the voice say as it slipped in and took full control…

And then she was awake again. Rather, she was returned to a state of being whole. Fluttershy looked around her but nothing was different. The whole place appeared the same, but something had undoubtedly changed. The scenery was as bland and drab as ever, but it wasn’t something there that was different, it was Fluttershy. The eyes that now looked at the world were fresh and new, different to those that had first seen this place. She was still Fluttershy, but a different Fluttershy to the one the world had come to know. This one was stronger, more confidant and most importantly, deadlier. This was the Fluttershy that had been hidden away from the world, everything that was not part of the element of Kindness and locked behind the mind of her more innocent self. In many ways, a stranger in familiar clothes, but in many ways this was the true Fluttershy. The product of every repressed feeling she had ever had since the day she could talk. This was Fluttershy with rage and fury left in. And new Fluttershy had a few things that needed sorting out, starting with that monstrosity that dared to call itself a rabbit.

Fluttershy strode down into the valley, no longer shivering. She felt the cold still, but it didn’t bother her. The adrenaline in her veins was warmth enough for her. Almost on cue, the rabbit hopped out from behind a rock and once again it stared at her, just accepting her presence. Never taking her eyes off of it, Fluttershy kept marching forward, never dropping speed. As the rabbit started growling, Fluttershy lowered her head and growled right back. The rabbit seemed unphased by this new development and just kept growling. Fluttershy didn’t slow down, she just kept walking.

“Any second now,” she thought to herself. “Any second, he’ll jump at me, that’s when I make my move.”
Sure enough, after another few steps, the rabbit leapt at Fluttershy with ferocious speed. But it wasn’t fast enough, as Fluttershy dashed forward and barrel rolled under the rabbit. Her hind hooves shot out and slammed into the understandably confused killer rabbit. It was a variation on a technique she had used on Hank the Bear before during his physiotherapy, so she was fairly well practised in it. The rabbit landed surprisingly heavily about three feet away, but it was on its feet again almost instantly. Clearly this bunny would take a little bit more persuading before it would just lie down and accept its fate. That didn’t matter too much though, Fluttershy was going to enjoy this.

The pegasus rolled quickly back onto her hooves and extended her wings, knocking a small cloud of dust and pebbles from her feathers. The rabbit glared at her before charging at her, loping clumsily as bunnies do. Fluttershy smiled and pounded her wings, hurling herself at the rabbit. Her hooves were faster than the rabbit’s fangs, and she was able to drive the miserable rodent into the ground before it had the chance to bite her. The rabbit coughed loudly as the air fled its body under the force of the impact. Fluttershy dragged the rabbit along the ground for a while, before slamming her front hoof into its face.

The first attack made contact beautifully. Her hoof smashed violently into the rabbits oversized head, sending a spray of blood from the monster’s nose. The second hit was not so successful. Her hoof flew once again at the head of the rabbit, going for the kill shot. But the rabbit somehow managed to temporarily dislocate its jaw, and caught the first three inches of the hoof in its mouth. Before Fluttershy had a chance to react the rabbit bit down, hard. Skin, flesh and muscle separated as easily as dry sand. The bone cracked and splintered until it too gave way.

Howling in rage and agony, Fluttershy yanked back her hoof, scattering shreds of skin and flecks of bone along with a thick splash of blood. A full three inches of her left hoof had been bitten off. What remained was a bloody mess at the end of her leg. A mess that was still bleeding rather heavily. She leapt back using her wings and roared with pain. Slowly, the rabbit got up and spat out the end of Fluttershy’s hoof. It’s jaw had returned to the appropriate size, but the rabbit was certainly in bad shape. It was covered in blood, and not all of it was from Fluttershy’s leg. It was covered in deep scratches from when Fluttershy had dragged him across the ground. It was concussed and had almost certainly broken a few bones, as well as the ones in its face. Fluttershy definitely had the upper hoof, so to speak. The rabbit would not be able to put up much more of a fight.

Between her remaining front hoof and her mouth, Fluttershy picked up a large sword from one of the skeletons on the ground. It was dull and rusty, but it would do the job. Using all of the strength she could, Fluttershy flew straight at the rabbit. The rabbit was too sluggish from its concussion to react in time, and the sword struck it clean in the face. Fluttershy kept flying, dragging the sword along. When she was sure that the rabbit was dead, she let the blade fall to the ground with a heavy clang.

Fluttershy turned to inspect the damage, and she liked what she saw. The sword had sliced the rabbit in half, from nose to tail, but the bottom half had refused to come apart so easily, so there was a bright trail of brain, blood and internal organs stretching from the initial point of impact. The portal opened up in front of Fluttershy, and as she made her way towards it she eagerly awaited her next chance to prove herself, and to try out her new found killer instincts. More importantly, she wanted to thank Nightmare Moon, Discord and Chrysalis for giving her this opportunity. And no thanks seemed more appropriate than tearing their heads off of their bodies.

Before Fluttershy left, she tore off the rabbit's front left paw.
“For luck,” she sneered before moving on to her next victim…

Author's Note

Well, this one ended in a very different way to when I started it. This was going to be a shorter fight, but it ended up being more of a lynchpin moment in the story. Fluttershy huh? Always the quiet ones I guess. Anyway, no clue yet as to who the next fight is going to be, but I hope you are all enjoying this...

Lord Eddard Stark vs Applejack

Applejack tumbled out of the portal and landed with a solid thud on the cold, stoney ground. The breath was knocked from her lungs and and the impact left her dizzy but aside from that she was otherwise unharmed. The farmer forced thoughts of the ghastly maze to the back of her mind. Shuddering, she dealt with with the remaining images of the Weeping Angels and forced them down, since she would not be able to deal with them until she could escape. If she broke down in the middle of a fight, then nothing she had done so far would count for anything. Besides, she had done everything she could to save Spike and Sweetie Belle, but she also had to admit that she had taken her eye off the ball after she had found Applebloom. Family comes first. The knowledge that her little sister was safe, for the moment at least, alleviated some of the guilt and pain she had been carrying around. Applejack tilted her hat backwards and took a look around at her new arena.

The air was cold. Freezing, in fact. All around were little mounds of snow and piles of silver frost covered turf. The wind itself was practically visible with microscopic crystals of ice drifting along in the breeze. Like a knife, the wind cut clean through her body and made her shudder involuntarily. Instinctively, Applejack pulled her chain around herself tighter as though it were a shaul to stave off the cold. It was surprising just how attached to her weapon she had become, how safe it made her feel now. Even from behind the clouds, the sun glinted off of the edge of the immensely keen edge of the blade. It had sliced through stone, metal, bone and flesh, yet it had grown no duller than when she had received after beating her first opponent.

All around her, tall, grey, stone walls reached skyward, with spikes of wood and metal protruding from them at various points. Round towers with small windows devoid of glass spiralled free of the frozen ground. The whole place seemed dark and foreboding. Perhaps it was Chrysalis’ Castle? The place was cold, cruel and dark, so it made sense that she would live here. Applejack’s eyes narrowed in anticipation. If this really was the Castle of the Changeling Queen, then that meant that her next opponent was going to be Chrysalis herself. Applejack relished the idea of separating various limbs from her body, making her suffer and beg as she vanished from this world forever. The bloodlust was overwhelming and if she had to fight her way through a few Changelings to get to the Queen, then that was fine by her.

The sound of footsteps knocked Applejack out her fantasies and back into reality. There appeared to be only one person, and from the sounds of things they appeared to have only two legs. Applejack considered the possibility of it being a Diamond Dog in the employ of Chrysalis, or perhaps Nightmare Moon. Either way, she wasn’t going to wait around to find out. Whatever it was, they had now entered Applejack’s kill zone, and now they weren’t going to leave. The pony loosened her chain and sprinted to the wall nearest to her. She gave herself enough slack to get a decent swing on the blade before making her move. As the target approached, Applejack rotated her body around, with one hoof helping to force out the chain. The curved blade whistled quietly through the air before finding its mark. Whatever she had just hit was wearing no armour, so the blade cut through the skin and muscle with no resistance. There was a slight bite as her cold metal cleaved through bone before whirling around and landing neatly at her hooves. As she finished her rotation, she saw the boy she had just killed drop to his knees before falling fully to the ground. A fraction of a second later, the severed top half of his torso struck the stone ground with a sickening squelch. A vibrant red splash ran up the wall beside the corpse providing an oddly aesthetically pleasing contrast to the muted tones of the area around her. Steam slowly rose from the steadily growing pools of blood spreading from the two halves of the corpse.

Somehow, the head had managed to land facing up, allowing Applejack to get a good look at her victim. He was very young, no more than a boy, with thick, curly brown hair. His eyes had a fire and a laughter in them that death was yet to extinguish. The outlines of his features were defined as carved stone, with strength in his jaw and determination in every line. There was no doubt that as far as Applejack was concerned, this boy would have been a worthy opponent and had he been much older, he would have posed a very serious threat to her.

“Robb!”

The cry had come from behind her. It was a mans voice with a very broad accent, although it was not one that Applejack was overly familiar with. Turning, she took in the terrifying image before her. The man had the same strong features, the same fiery gaze, the same brown hair of the dead boy. Obviously there was a relation between them, probably father and son. The only real difference between this new challenger and the boy, Robb, was just that: Robb had been just a boy. Before her stood a fully grown warrior, at least fifteen years Robb’s senior, taller than the boy and broader too. Under a thick fur cloak and functional leather hauberk was a body rippling with muscle. Applejack could tell at a glance that this man was a soldier, hardened by warfare. But the look on his face was a terrifying mixture of anguish and fury. And Applejack couldn’t blame him. After all, here before him was the corpse of his son along with the person who had killed him.

For a moment, it appeared that the warrior didn’t know what he was going to do. He seemed torn between rushing to his son’s side and coming straight for Applejack. With tears in his eyes, the warrior moved his arms out from underneath his heavy woolen cloak, revealing the most exquisite weapon that Applejack had ever seen. It was a monstrous great sword, the blade was at least as long as she was from nose to tail, and wide enough that Applebloom could stand on its flat edge quite comfortably. It glinted in a similar way to the blade on the end of her chain, indicating that the two were just as sharp as each other. Applejack was certain of one thing, this fight was not going to be easy.

The warrior had the advantages of size and strength, but Applejack had him in speed, and his emotional state would undoubtedly impair his ability to fight logically. It would be a tough victory, but Applejack was of her chances. She scooped up her chain, and readied herself for the attack.

However, what the soldier did took her completely by surprise. He looked straight at her, almost through her even, and asked “what are you called?”
He was holding back sobs, but the sincerity in his eyes made Applejack falter momentarily.
“I would have the name of the one who murdered my son. Now, if you please!”

“I’m Applejack. What’s your name?”
Why was she indulging in these irrelevant niceties? What did it matter to her what his name was? She would be killing him soon either way.

“I am Lord Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. And now, Gods be willing, I am going to avenge my son.”

And with that the duel had begun. He was faster than Applejack had anticipated. Much faster indeed. In a few steps he had closed the distance between them and had his sword raised above his head. Applejack strafed to the right as the shimmering blade clanged off the ground. Applejack took advantage of the situation and swung her chain around, meaning to to end the duel right there and then. But once again, the speed of the Lord of Winterfell caught her off guard. He reached inside his cloak and in one fluid motion extracted a dirk and thrust it directly into the path of the chain. The chain wrapped around the knife, sending the blade off course. Lord Eddard leaned backwards slightly, dodging the blade before releasing his grip on the dirk and swinging his sword once again.

Applejack was forced to take the defensive and managed to avoid the Lords strikes by continuously dodging backwards or to the side. She couldn’t move around too much because of her chain, but slowly Lord Eddard was forcing her back. Eddard Stark was unrelenting, he kept pressing the advantage, launching strike after strike after strike knowing that eventually Applejack would fail to avoid his blade. Fortunately for Applejack, with one final flick, the dirk was shaken loose from her chain with a resounding clang. Finally, the fight was beginning to go in Applejack’s favour.

The farm pony dragged her weapon around and stretched out the chain in front of her with her front hooves. She caught Lord Stark’s sword perfectly, and used the force of the blow to wrap her chain around the blade. If this trick worked with a knife, surely it could work with the great sword too. Before the Lord of Winterfell had a chance to react, Applejack span around and kicked him straight in the stomach. The hit was unexpected and far stronger than Eddard had been ready for. He reeled backwards, the wind knocked soundly out of his lungs. Involuntarily, Eddard released his grip on the sword, leaving it wrapped in the chain. With a violent twist of her neck, Applejack cast the weapon away.

Unfortunately for Applejack, Lord Stark had been knocked back over to the body of his son, and he recovered remarkably quickly. There on the ground, next to the body of the boy, was a sword. Obviously Robb had been carrying it when Applejack had struck him down. Eddard muttered a small apology before scooping up the sword. It was no where near as beautiful as his great sword, and it seemed much too small for a man like Lord Eddard Stark, but it was a weapon none the less. Applejack darted forward, trying to force Lord Stark to take a more defensive stance.

Eddard, however, had a very different plan. He feinted left, leading Applejack right into a trap. He wheeled around and slashed at the pony. The steel bit deep into her flesh causing her to howl in a mixture of rage and pain. There was a wet slap as a chunk of her shoulder landed heavily on the ground. Applejack felt a good deal of her strength fade from her as the blood flowed freely down her leg and torso.While no major organs had been damaged, her front right leg was now essentially useless and she was losing an awful lot of blood. The next few seconds would almost certainly determine whether or not she survived this fight.

Applejack yanked her chain towards her and twisted to the side. It looked like she was going to strike for his head. That was exactly how Applejack wanted it to look. Lord Stark brought his sword up to defend his face as Applejack twisted again. The motion would have wrenched her shoulder, had she still had enough of one there. As it was, she just roared in anguish as her blade flew in low, slicing across the Lord of Winterfell’s hamstrings.

The man shouted, though more in surprise than pain. But he still collapsed to his knees as the muscles in his legs stopped obeying instruction. Applejack winced violently as she wrapped the chain around the fallen warrior’s torso, pinning his arms to his sides. She took the blade in her mouth and dragged it slowly through Lord Eddard Stark’s neck. His head tipped forward lightly before it fell off completely, spraying the surrounding area in hot, steamy blood. Applejack unwound her chain, letting the headless cadaver slump forward onto the ground, just a few feet away from the two halves of his son's corpse. Chain in mouth, Applejack hobbled backwards and tripped through the portal.

Author's Note

Ha! Bet you guys all thought I was dead or something, or that maybe this story was finished. well NOPE! YOu have even more of this crap to put up with! Now, in terms of why this chapter came so late, I was actually hoping to have this chapter filled by a guest chapter, which was going to feature Clay from Xiaolin Showdown. And since my good friend Prince Luna knows a lot more about Xiaolin Showdown than I do (and also because I really hate writing Applejack chapters) he was going to do it. However, due to technical difficulties, that didn't happen, so I had to come up with one myself. What didn't help is the fact that I started University in September and since it's an Irish university I have four subjects along with the two societies for which I am on the committee. All of this adds up to not much time for writing. But anyway, here you go, for all those Game of Thrones fans, AJ vs Ned Stark.

And if you want a little hint as to what the next fight will contain....

Xros Heart vs Rainbow Dash by Prince Luna

Rainbow Dash had been flying around this barren wasteland for no more than an hour now. The ground was a light shade of brown as well as being completely dry and cracked. Dead trees scattered along the terrain either fallen down or still upstanding with any vegetation completely destroyed. The sky was a gloomy grey and the smell of fiery smoke lingered through the atmosphere, it almost suffocated the pegasus, but she held her breath for half minutes at a time to avoid it and occasionally sped up her flight so the force around her would bash through the smoke. It tired her out, but at least it let fresh air into her system.
During another boost of speed, Rainbow Dash felt something heavy strike against her. The pain instantly stung through her body and caused her to fall to the hardened ground, temporarily throwing out her back. She looked up and saw what looked to her like a blue dragon flying straight down towards her. It’s head was pointed, it had red armour on its torso as well as large yellow gloves and on its tail was a metallic trident. The trident was dead set on striking her. Thinking as fast as she could fly, Rainbow Dash zipped out of the way, much to the dismay of her wings which throbbed in intense pain from her fall. She took to the ground and saw the dragon with its tail stuck in the ground. The pegasus pulled on a mighty gallop, ignoring any pain she felt, and tackled the dragon, which was at least four times bigger than her. It cried out in pain, then Rainbow Dash heard a voice from behind.

“Arresterdramon! Hang in there!” it called. It was high pitched and overly enthusiastic, but masculine. Rainbow Dash swooped her head to see a young boy with brown spiky hair, with a red flame-like bob at the centre. He wore a blue shirt with a yellow star on it and large square goggles with yellow lenses.

Rainbow Dash turned back to her foe, Arresterdramon, and glared at him, but then heard another voice from behind her.

“Tagiru! Stop! Don’t hurt it!” the deeper voice said.

Another human boy, taller than Tagiru, stood at his side. He had spikier hair supported by circular goggles. His shirt was mostly red, but a part of it was white. A crest lay on the red side, a crown. In his hand was something red, it looked like a large mobile phone. Tagiru also had one of these now that it came to Rainbow Dash’s attention, but it was a darker crimson.

“That’s not a Digimon,” the other boy said, holding up the device, “the Xros Loader doesn’t recognise it.”

“So I can’t hunt it?” Tagiru responded with a whine.

The other boy shook his head, then Tagiru hung his low.

“Go back to the real world, I’ll deal with this one.” the boy said with a dark shade over his forehead.

“Fine. Let’s go, Arresterdramon,” Tagiru called his dragon partner to his side and held up his Xros Loader, “TIME SHIFT!”

At this enthusiastic call brought out a bright light from the device, which Arresterdramon flew through and disappeared in.

“Later, Taiki!” Tagiru waved before going into the light himself.

Taiki and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances, then Rainbow Dash spoke up, “thanks for saving me there. Really appreciate it. Who are you?”

The boy smiled at her, “I’m Taiki Kudou, leader of the army Xros Heart. We just finished up a battle here...as you can see it left the place pretty lifeless; but somehow you found your way here.”

Rainbow Dash studied Taiki. Through her previous battles she had learned not to trust anyone she met after this whole incident; but he saved her life. She decided to question him some more.

“Where am I exactly?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“The Digital World,” Taiki explained, “the place has been flooded with war recently. It’s filled with creatures called Digimon; at first glance anyone would think you’re a Digimon but this device, the Xros Loader, says you aren’t.” He held up the red device. It had a screen and circular buttons below.

“Any idea on how to get out of here?” the pegasus asked.

There was a flash of darkness and suddenly Rainbow Dash was surrounded by nothing. Before her stood the faded image of Discord.

“What a foolish question, my dear!” he laughed, “you know how to get out. You’re going to have to kill this boy! But he saved your life, will you be able to do it?”

The draconequus’ distinctive laugh echoed in her head as her sight returned to the wasteland. She looked Taiki in the eyes as he spoke, “not a clue, sorry, but I can help.”

She didn’t want to do this. The boy seemed to be genuinely good. Her loyalty was too strong for her to just kill someone who saved her life; but she wanted answers. She had to get out of here. She took a deep breath and stood ready to pounce, then sprung herself upwards.

“TAIKI! a croaky and deafeningly loud voice roared.

Rainbow Dash felt a huge impact on the side of her torso. She cried out in pain as she flew threw the air after the hit, then landed on her hooves. Before her was a small red bidapel dragon-like creature, but he looked quite robotic. He wore a beaten up yellow scarf and a belt around his white body. In his hands was a large microphone.

“Shoutmon!” Taiki cried with joy, “thanks for that!”

“Hottokenai, Taiki! I can’t turn my back on you!” Shoutmon grinned, then turned to Rainbow Dash and scowled, “what was that all about?”

“I had to...I can’t get out of here unless I...kill him,” the pegasus gulped with fear.

“Kill Taiki!? No way! You gotta get through me first!” Shoutmon replied, then began to run towards Rainbow Dash with his microphone held out, “ROWDY ROCKER!”

The top of the microphone burst into flame and Shoutmon leapt at Rainbow Dash. She quickly opened her wings and jumped upwards, hovering to avoid being bashed by the blaze. Shoutmon still jumped up and his fiery microphone collided with Rainbow Dash’s face, making her scream in pain from both the whack and the burn. She quickly retaliated and curled her body, slamming into Shoutmon’s torso with her hooves, knocking him hard to the ground. During his time getting up, she took higher to the skies where Shoutmon couldn’t reach her. Shoutmon opened his hands out.

“ROCK DAMASHI!” he called, fireballs burst above his hands and he launched them into the air towards Rainbow Dash.

The fireballs were fast, but Rainbow Dash was faster. She narrowly avoided each one then circled in the air, hoping to confuse Shoutmon.

“Taiki, looks like I’m gonna need some ‘airsistance’!” the dragon Digimon laughed.

Taiki nodded, “let’s go!” and held out his Xros Loader, then pressed a button on it and held it out.

“SHOUTMON! SPARROWMON!” he called, “DIGI-XROS!”

“SHOUTMON PLUS JET SPARROW!” Shoutmon announced the name of his new form.

The newly formed jet immediatley glided towards Rainbow Dash, matching her speed. It began to shoot compressed blasts of air at the pegasus. She outstretched her wings despite the pain of her muscles and swiftly dodged them, but after turning a corner, Shoutmon had thought this through and he fired a ball of air to where she turned to. It hit her in the torso and almost winded her, making her descend slightly. She quickly turned around 180 degrees and flew towards Shoutmon, dodging more air blasts and eventually punching him in the face. The hit was so hard that he flew off Sparrowmon and was momentarily unconscious. Taiki quickly returned Sparrowmon to his Xros Loader and held it towards Shoutmon. The screen on the device displayed a golden omega symbol and began to emit a golden aura which mirrored on the falling Shoutmon. Taiki threw his arm up in the air.

“SHOUTMON! CHOU SHINKA!” he commanded.

“OMEGASHOUTMON!” the golden-plated Digimon announced in his new form.

The bright and glorious glow of OmegaShoutmon made Rainbow Dash have to shield her eyes, which was a big mistake. The Digimon came hurtling in her direction, foot out ready to kick; she only saw this at the last second and swooped to the side, being scraped by the monster’s solid ankle. She rubbed her bruise, then launched herself towards OmegaShoutmon. The two bashed into one another and repeatedly struck at each other in midair, tiring each other out and wounding them both. At this point, Rainbow Dash just wanted to get this over with and kill the Digimon and Taiki so she could heal up; she was in immense pain. The stress was getting to her as she continued to crash into OmegaShoutmon, further paining her. As she pulled back again, she suddenly felt a sudden burst of energy and heat. Her eyes were washed with a rainbow aura, then she looked above and below her, she was surrounded by a rainbow flame. She looked ahead, OmegaShoutmon was coming in for another attack. Rainbow Dash readied herself to boost forward, then pushed down with her wings rapidly, advancing towards the golden Digimon. The two crashed into each other once more, but this time Rainbow Dash had the advantage. She pushed against OmegaShoutmon, staring him dead on in the eyes as she did so. She quickly overpowered him and forced him backwards.

Suddenly the pegasus yelled out uncontrollably, “BUCCANEER BLAZE!!”

She was engulfed in the rainbow flames, which burst out and surrounded OmegaShoutmon. He screamed in agony as his metallic body was slowly burnt and melted by the sheer heat of the flames. Rainbow Dash could only stand mouth agape and watch as the data of OmegaShoutmon actually liquidised and dripped before her.

“OmegaShoutmon! NO!!” Taiki yelled to his partner.

Rainbow Dash then heard a grovely and deep voice from on the ground, “GIGA DESTROYER!”
Knowing this was an oncoming attack from a Digimon, Rainbow remembered that during the saying of the name of the technique, the attack charged up. She looked down to see a huge blue dinosaur covered in royal blue armor unleashing a blue energy ball from the bird-like armor. She quickly dodged out of the way of it.

Taiki smiled at the Digimon beside him, who was accompanied by another human; much taller than Taiki with long flowing blonde hair, a blue jacket and much more serious expression.

“Kiriha, you brought MetalGreymon!” Taiki exclaimed.

The blonde boy, Kiriha, smiled and nodded then brought a blue Xros Loader from his jacket, the screen shone the same golden colour as Taiki’s did before he evolved Shoutmon.

He held it up to MetalGreymon, “METALGREYMON! CHOU SHINKA!”

The glorious new golden Digimon stood taller than its previous form. Rainbow Dash looked it in the eyes and smirked. She put a hoof out to drop kick it, but her nerves suddenly stung from the pain of her moving muscles. She cried out loudly and held her back hoof, rubbing it in an attempt to nurse it, but didn’t notice ZekeGreymon charging straight up towards her. The great Digimon impacted hard, causing Rainbow Dash to lose control of her wings and fall to the ground.

She hit the wasteland surface hard, completely destroying her left wing. It was a bloody mess and feathers lay all around it; it had lost any discernable shape. Rainbow Dash just lay panting, wanting the pain to go away but it wouldn’t leave. She looked before her and saw OmegaShoutmon and ZekeGreymon brandishing charged attacks to go in her direction. She slowly stood up on all four hooves; her back was destroyed almost as badly as her wing and she had hardly any energy to lift herself up. She then remembered her Buccaneer Blaze earlier and looked to the two Digimon with a smile on her face. Rainbow Dash built an aura around her, her mane and tail began to spike up with energy. She was lifted off the ground with the power of her own attack, surrounded by a rainbow wave. The wave slowly transformed into a flame and propelled the pegasus forward.

“BUCCANEER BLAZE!!” she called again, charging towards the Digimon.

ZekeGreymon lifted its arm, which was covered in strong armor, “TRIDENT ARM!”

“HARD ROCK DAMASHI!” OmegaShoutmon called, unleashing a huge firebolt towards Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash’s wings flapped, despite the huge searing pain which was sent from her broken wing, and brought her forward in her attack even more. She pushed into OmegaShoutmon’s firey blaze and fought hard against it, then managed to catch it in her own force and push it with her. Without thinking, ZekeGreymon brought down its massive arm and collided with the Buccaneer Blaze/Hard Rock Damashi combo, triggering a deadly, firey and rainbow-filled explosion. Smoke wafted around the wasteland for minutes, making it impossible to see the area of the dynamic blast. In this time, Kiriha had called for some quick reinforcements just in case Rainbow Dash was still alive; which seemed impossible due to the size of the explosion. A girl wearing a pink outfit had turned up just before the smoke cleared.

Soon, the smoke was nearly all gone. OmegaShoutmon and ZekeGreymon were on the ground, hardly breathing. Rainbow Dash was stood up. Her mane completley messed, but the rest of her body as it was. Around her, a thin rainbow shield smashed like glass. She laughed to herself and turned around. The battle was over.

“Too easy!” she exclaimed.

Then, the world was turned to nothingness again.

“Too easy? But the battle’s not over yet!” rung a voice in two tones at once.

“Chrysalis!” Rainbow Dash growled, “I killed the Digimon! Just let me in the portal, my wing is destroyed, I’d rather be dead than continue the pain.”

“You didn’t kill the Digimon; they’re tough meat, Rainbow Dash,” Chrysalis’ voice laughed, echoing through the vast nothingness, “and the humans are still alive. If you want to proceed, every one of them must be destroyed.”

Rainbow’s conscience returned to the wasteland. She looked back at the three humans.

“Looks like we’re not done yet,” she said.

Taiki shook his head, “this battle’s not finished. And we certainly haven’t used up all of our tricks!”

Kiriha and the girl both held up their Xros Loaders, the girls’ was a bright lavender colour. The three of them shouted in unison, “GREAT XROS!”

OmegaShoutmon rose up with a magical aura, as did ZekeGreymon. They glew with a brilliant display of energy.

Rainbow Dash shook her head and galloped towards the humans, hoping to knock their Xros Loaders from their hands. She approached them, but was instantly and violently knocked back by ZekeGreymon, now full of strength. He held her down with a huge claw that even one of the nails of was larger than the pegasus.

Taiki shouted out, “OMEGASHOUTMON!”

Kiriha continued, “ZEKEGREYMON!”

“SPARROWMON!” the girl called, reintroducing the yellow Digimon from earlier.

“BALLISTAMON! DORULUMON! STARMONS!” Taiki finished.

Suddenly, five bright orbs of light flew from the Xros Loaders and started circling OmegaShoutmon and ZekeGreymon.

“GREAT XROS!” many voices cried out.

The giant Digimon stood with his shadow engulfing Rainbow Dash. The pony could only scream out in terror as the titan before her brought down his giant hand and grabbed her by her bad wing with just his thumb and index finger. He brought her up to his face, she didn’t look, but Shoutmon X7 laughed and threw her sky high, giving her more upward force than she could even give herself.

Shoutmon X7 brought his hands together, “SEVEN VICTORISE!” he called and a huge ball of fire, just half his size (but still a huge deal bigger than Rainbow Dash) shot like a bullet from before his hands. Rainbow Dash saw this, still going upwards from being thrown, and extended her wings. She screamed as her broken wing pulsed pain into her whole body. She flapped them despite the agony they terrorised her with and carried on moving upwards. She had a plan but had to be extra careful.

Once she deemed to be at a high enough height, she turned around and moved into a nose dive, headed straight towards the Seven Victorise. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see what would happen if her plan failed and began to build up more momentum. A cone formed around her body, a familiar cone that she was expecting. A second later, she was just behind the ascending fireball. She took a deep breath and awaited the next happening. The cone around her pierced into the fireball and cleared through it, allowing Rainbow Dash to stay inside it with no harm coming to her as the force of the cone kept the firey death away from her. Her downward force was so strong, she began to bring the Victorise down with her, keeping her in place at the center.
Shotumon X7 jumped up and began to fly up to her, hoping to stop her in her path before she hit him with his own attack. The cone around Rainbow Dash closed in on her, bringing the fireball ever closer. Just as the cone compressed against her body and dissapeared, Shoutmon X7 clasped his hands around the Victorise and held it in then. Silence washed around the wasteland for a second.

Shoutmon X7 laughed, “Ha! Looks li-” KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

A bigger explosion than any witnessed before in the Digital World expanded larger and larger. It was a huge ball of hellfire, surrounded with a rainbow tint. It immediately reduced Shoutmon X7 to nothing; no piece of data left over. The humans began to run away and try to escape the Digital World with their Xros Loaders, but the explosion was too fast. They were vaporised as soon as it came anywhere near them. In the middle of the explosion, Rainbow Dash screamed as loud as she had screamed before; but she couldn’t hear it. She couldn’t hear anything. The loudness and power of the explosion of the combined Sonic Rainboom and Seven Victorise had literally blown her ears off. There was nothing on the top of her head, not even a mane. Just a leaking stub of blood. Her body, however, was unaffected by the explosion; seeing as some strange power had formed a rainbow shield around her again. She just stood in mid-air, screaming with her eyes closed until the explosion stopped.

The ringing inside her head was soon her only reality. She had been blinded by the explosion she was at the core of; but she felt falling around her. A similar falling to when she had entered the portal after killing Pikachu. Slowly, she began to make out sight again, seeing the inside of the portal. She was slowly being healed after being in a situation worse than death.

Author's Note

Another guest chapter for you guys, hope you all enjoy it.
Xros Heart from Digimon Xros Wars.

The next fight is going to be a long one (and I mean REALLY bloody long. We're talking time between Season two and three long) but I'm sure you'll all enjoy it as much as I am.