Malignant

        So many thoughts were running through my head. I knew he was there, this was right up his alley. Fighting is an excuse for him to be angry, and to lose his cool. Surely he could embrace his explosive tendencies there. I had just entered the locker rooms, but I had failed to see him. What if he was just in the bathroom, or in the large crowd of competitors scrambling around trying to ready themselves for their matches? If he wasn’t there, It’d definitely damper my spirits, and I’d feel like a gigantic fool.

        “Applejack?”

        The locker rooms where not entirely what you would expect. There were actually very few lockers, as it was more of a training ground. There were small red circles all over the place that resembled the actual arena that the competitors would fight on later. It was roughly fifteen feet from one side of the circle to the other. I was pretty sure that there was some kind of math-y term for that, but I didn’t dwell on it.. To be honest, the room was rather bland and pale. It was almost like a hospital, but with just a little less pain.

        “Applejack?”

        I was not alone, there were many other ponies in the training grounds with me. Most of them were actually practicing. I had observed a few ponies earlier, in fact. Some of them I would hate to be paired up against. So many foreign ponies, and strange and off-putting styles of martial arts. It was a little more than interesting. There was a large television screen that had the brackets for the tournament. It would also broadcast the fights to us backstage. All in all, there were sixteen fighters. I guess I had as much of a shot as anypony else.

        My mind kept wandering. I was there for Kindling, not to win this silly tournament. I guess that’s just my competitive edge returning. It’s been a while since I’d actually competed in… well, anything really. Like I said, the only reason I joined was so that I could get backstage, but to do that, I would have to compete.

        “Applejack!” I heard a voice next to me scream. I jumped just slightly when the massive amount of noise finally filtered through my ears. It was truly loud in the grounds, and I guess I got lost in my own head again. Apparently, Rainbow Dash had been trying to get my attention for the last five minutes.

        “Oops. Sorry, sugarcube,” I replied, smiling a little bit. Rainbow Dash sighed, and dipped her head, which allowed me to notice that Vanity was just on the other side of her. She was also staring at the board, looking for her name. Rainbow Dash scooted a little closer and punched my shoulder harder than I would have prefered.

        “Are you ready for this? First match starts in five!” she said. I looked over at the clock nearest the television, which strictly stated it was 10 am.

        “Where’s Kindlin’? Aren’t all competitors supposed ta be in this room?” I asked. Vanity poked her head out from behind Rainbow Dash, and shook her head.

        “I don’t think so. As long as they’re on the grounds and are present when their match begins,” I let out a genuine sigh. Vanity noticed my displeasure and bore a smile. “Don’t worry, he’s here all right. Look, his match is third in the first round,” With a start, I stuck my eyes back on the board, scanning desperately for the third match. Believe it or not, Vanity was right. Kindling’s name was right there in the third bracket. He was going up against some pony named Guru. Judging from his name, I can already assume that Kindling’s going up against somepony with a decent amount of training.

        “And look at that! I’m up first!” Rainbow Dash said, pointing to the screen. In the first round, Rainbow Dash was up first against somepony named Black Belt. Well, I look forward to seeing just how well Rainbow Dash will do in her match. I hoped she didn’t make that much of a fool of herself. I unstuck my eyes from the television after that. I really didn’t care who I went against, honestly.

        “Good luck, Rainbow!” Vanity cheered. The show started in two minutes, so Rainbow Dash began to wander over to the doors leading to the arena. I could hear the audience screaming from backstage, and that said something. I wished Rainbow good luck as the official caught up with her, and readied her to go onstage.

***

        “So…”

        “No, this is not a date,”

        “But Twilight, it almost is! We’re sitting here… watching a show, with popcorn and other treats, having a good time…”

        Well, this is going swimmingly so far. It’s been five minutes since Pinkie Pie, Aphrodite, and I sat down in our seats. I should have chosen my seat a little bit more carefully, in hindsight. Pinkie and I both sat on the outside, while Aphrodite sat right between us. She habitually munched on my popcorn and made sure that every time I reached for some, our hooves would touch. Then she would proceed to give me those… those eyes.

        We managed to get pretty good seats, really. We had a clear view of the arena in front of us, which was slightly impressive. The arena was square, and elevated at around five feet. There was a spotlight that lit it up entirely, and practically blacked out the audience surrounding it. There was a bunch of commotion to the right of the arena near a bunch of equipment, but I was unable to see over it. Probably just the workers behind the scene’s making sure everything is set up properly. Truthfully, I was actually a little excited. Who knows? This might be a little more fun than I originally thought. But that still doesn’t take away the fact that we were there for Kindling, and Kindling only. Luckily, I got to peek at the bracket and competitors list, and it didn’t take me long to confirm that he was indeed competing. I hope Applejack, Vanity and Rainbow Dash can get through to him backstage…

        “Oooh! This is so exciting!” Pinkie Pie said. It was then that I realized that I made another humongous mistake, and forgot to monitor Pinkie at the concession stand. When she peeked over Aphrodite, I saw at least four sodas, two gigantic bowls of popcorn, cotton candy, and some taffy on her lap and in her hooves. Being a baker must pay exceptionally well. I give it fifteen minutes before she’s bouncing off the walls. “This is going to be just like that one kung-fu movie I saw the other night!”

        “Maybe this was a bad idea…” I muttered to myself. Aphrodite turned to me abruptly, almost making me spill my popcorn in surprise.

        “Twilight, loosen up! Kindling is here, and I’m sure that the other three are talking to him right now,” she raved, smiling at me torridly.

        “But Equestria is at stake here! Malignant could be doing who-knows-what and we’re just sitting here watching a sho-” I was interrupted when a flailing pink hoof wafted in front of my face.

        “Shhh! It’s starting!” Pinkie Pie shouted, before loudly sipping on one of her many sodas. Oh boy, let’s see how well this turns out. A yellow, well-dressed unicorn walked up the steps to the arena, magically carrying a microphone with him. He bore a large grin, as if he was more than happy to be hosting this event.

        “Ladies and gentlecolts!” he announced. “Welcome to the fifth annual Iron Hoof Competition!” At this point, most of the crowd -- including Aphrodite and Pinkie -- exploded into some strange bout of cheering. It actually took a minute to quiet the crowd back down to where the announcer could speak without having to yell into the microphone. “We have so many talented and skilled fighters here today for three reasons! For the cash prize of 10,000 bits, the championship title, but most importantly,” he pointed at the audience with vigor. “To give you all a mighty fine show!”

        Once again, everyone began to cheer and stamp their hooves in excitement. Was I the only one getting slightly annoyed at the fact that everypony’s cheering is only prolonging the show? “Without another moment to waste, let’s get this party started!” Wait, that seemed a little familiar. I looked over at Pinkie, who bit her lip upon hearing the announcer say her self-made catchphrase. “Let’s introduce our first two fighters! From Ponyville, we have the speed-demon! The epitome of awesomeness! The multi-colored fiend! Rainbow Dash!” The announcer practically screamed into the microphone. Jumping into fights already, good. Hopefully this won’t take as long as I originally thought.

        “I think it’s pretty obvious that Rainbow Dash set him up for that…” Aphrodite muttered upon hearing all of her nicknames, most of which I’d never heard of. The only response Aphrodite got was two hearty nods. A cyan blur appeared as Rainbow sped onto the stage, creating a wonderful trail of different colors behind her. Rainbow Dash wiped some dirt off her shoulder, and threw her hooves in the air. A few ponies in the crowd cheered, but others -- such as the stallion behind me -- booed her loudly.

        “GO RAINBOW DASH, WOOT!” Pinkie cheered, actually jumping out of her seat for a brief moment.

        While Rainbow began to give out butterfly kisses to the crowd, the announcer continued. “Versus one of our newest competitors this year. He may be small, but he can pack a punch! From the small town on Dodge Junction, say hello to Black Belt!”

        The look of Rainbow Dash’s face when a dark brown colt entered the arena was priceless. She bursted out into a fit of laughter upon the sight. Black Belt was only half of Rainbow’s size, and literally came up to her chest. He had a short, black mane that matched his name. His legs were terribly scrawny, and part of me wondered if this was going to be considered foal abuse. Rainbow Dash isn’t actually going to punch a foal, is she!? What kind of competition is this!? Isn’t there some sort of age requirement for competitions where the direct goal is to punch somepony in the face? “If the contestants could ready themselves?”

        Rainbow Dash stood on one side of the arena, flaring her wings to intimidate the poor colt. He didn’t bat an eyelash. Using her legs, and her wings, she balanced herself on her hind legs. It was strange, Rainbow was never very good at that. She’s good at balance in the air, but if she bats her wings even once, she’s disqualified according to the rules. The ground and balance isn’t really her forte.  Black Belt jumped onto his hind legs with absolutely no problem, and took some kind of battle stance with both of his arms stretched out in front of him. This was slightly embarrassing. I’m an adult and I still can’t balance on my hind legs for more than a few seconds. What am I doing with my life…

        “Begin!”

        The gong sounded, but no one made a move, save for Rainbow Dash going back down on all fours. Rainbow Dash said something, and I tried to lip read. I believe she said something like: “You sure you’re up for this kid? I’ll have you know I’m the best!”

        Sigh.

        With a steady charge, the pegasus charged the foal, running at an alarming speed towards the child. Black Belt didn’t move until the last second, when he ducked and extended his tiny hind leg into Rainbow Dash’s line of fire. Rainbow hollered when she toppled head over heels over him, smacking her head on the rough ground below. To save face, she refused to wallow on the ground longer than she needed to. She was up within moments. She did, however, have a small purple lump on the top of her forehead. Ouch. Rainbow Dash closed her eyes for a half second, and brought a hoof up to her chest.

        “Hah! You think that’ll be enough to beat ne me- POMPF” Rainbow Dash was cut off when Black Belt slammed his hoof into Rainbow Dash’s chest. The three of us in the audience let out an exasperated “Ohh!” upon witnessing her getting her butt handed to her by a little kid. Rainbow Dash went flying backward so far that she actually soared out of the arena. When Rainbow hit the floor, the gong sounded again.

        “The winner is Black Belt!” the announcer said.

        “Wow… uh,” Aphrodite faltered, trying to process just what exactly happened. She inserted a few more pieces of popcorn into her mouth. “That was… very quick,”

        “Hey, she didn’t do that bad! I counted, and that was a whole SEVEN seconds! That’s a pretty big number if you think about it,” Pinkie countered, wildly waving an exceptionally large foam-hoof in the air

        With a loud, tired, and frustrated groan, I slammed my head into the seat in front of me.

***

        “Wow,” Vanity said, completely dumbstruck as to what just happened. I was trying so hard  to contain my laughter, but it was completely impossible at this point. I bursted into another fit of uncontrollable chuckles, clutching my hat for dear life as Vanity glared at me. “Hey! She was on our team, remember?”

        “Ah-Ahm sorry-PFFFT!” I tried to say, but the giggles were just too much. Oh boy, that was rich! Not only did she get her competitive flank kicked by a kid no older than Applebloom, but in front of an entire stadium full of ponies! It took me way longer than it should have to calm down.

        “What are we going to do…? I mean, do you really think that one of us could fight Kindling? That is what we’re back here to do, right?” Vanity inquired. She twitched her tail seconds before she actually turned her head to look at me.

        “Well, ah wanted to talk to him. But mah plan b is to beat the snot out of him until he remembers just who ah am!” I preached, sticking my stetson hat back onto the top of my head. There was a rather awkward silence between us, before Vanity decided to speak up again.

        “How were you and Kindling doing?” I noticed that she said ‘were’, but instead of questioning just what she meant, I let it slide. Behind me, some kind of commotion was forming. Not in the mood to pay attention, I thought about a response for Vanity.

        “Uh, pretty good, ah reckon. The knucklehead’s taken ah pretty good liking to farm life, not to mention giving my brother, Big MacIntosh, and ah the much needed help,” I recalled, “He still has to take his pills every now and then, but all in all, he’s been gettin’ better. I just gotta make sure that him and my little sister Applebloom stay away from each other when Kindling’s workin’,” Vanity stifled a small giggle.

        “What do you mean by that?”

        The commotion behind me was getting a little louder, so much that it nabbed Vanity’s attention. She peered over me so that she could actually get a look at what it was. “Well, ya see, Applebloom and her friends are obsessed with gettin’ their cutie marks. So the other day they were tryin’ to get one ‘n archery-”

        “Wait… is that Kindling over there?” she said. With a new sense of urgency that I hadn’t had in a long while, I threw my eyes over into the direction of which her head was facing. Standing in the corner of the room, facing away from me, was a charcoal colored stallion. His hair was like an inferno that almost seemed to wave in the air. Unsurprisingly, the stallion was hollering at another competitor.

        “Kindlin’? Kindling!” I announced before I ran over to him with Vanity in tow. I couldn’t believe it! He was actually here! I just hoped that he could remember just who I was. I wanted the old Kindling back, the one who had a heart and yearned to be good.

        “This is MY area! I’M sparring here! Go somewhere else, if you know what’s good for you!” Kindling yelled at a much smaller, scarlet contestant who just refused to back down. Kindling’s eyes were clouded with fiery purpose. His mouth was in a permanent scowl that attacked those of whom he happened to face. When you didn’t know the guy, he had a tendency to be downright terrifying.

        “I was here first! I’ve been sparring here for the last ten minutes! You can’t just come and take it!” he snapped, exasperated. Upon closer inspection, it seemed that a fight was the last thing that he wanted. Kindling was the complete opposite. Some mare named Whimsy, who had won her match just recently, wandered behind the scarlet stallion. Apparently, she had been sparring with him. The beige earth pony frowned, but refused to interrupt.

        “Who says I can’t, shrimp? Now get out of here before I flatten you!” Kindling replied, raising a hoof towards the smaller stallion. With a sigh, the scarlet stallion turned around, and sauntered off. The mare known as Whimsy rolled her eyes, and flipped her green and chestnut mane out from her view.

        “You know, I’ve seen ponies like you,” she huffed. Kindling paid her no proper attention, but he knew she was talking to him. “You think you can use your size and voice to prove your dominance in this world, but you can’t,” The mare turned around, and spoke over her shoulder. “Good luck in your match, jerk.” Kindling growled upon swallowing her insult, he started forward, as if he was going to blindside her. Knowing that the timing could not be more perfect, I stepped in front of him.

        “Kindling! Is that you?” I asked as soon as soon as I had taken that dreaded step. The stallion in question stumbled back to keep from barreling over me. At first, he had his eyebrow raised, but when he laid his eyes on Vanity and I, he scowled.

        “Yeah, what of it?” he grumbled, the same growl in his voice that I had come to forget. My heart dropped a little bit as the realization set upon me. But I thrusted it back up when I made it my mission to help him remember us, and just who he is.

        “I need to talk to you,” I whispered. I hoped that if I spoke to him calmly, that maybe he would get his anger under control so that I could actually speak with him on a different level. “Do ya happen to know who ah ahm?”

        Kindling scoffed, and threw his head back as if he was mocking me. “Hell no, I don’t know who you are. Why would I give a damn anyways?” Kindling leaned a little closer to me, and poked my chest roughly, poking the sensitive part of my rib cage. I did not appreciate that, and I showed that my glaring straight into Kindling’s burning eyes. “I think this little farmgirl needs to learn how to mind her own business!” he growled. His voice was involuntarily gruff, and sounded like sandpaper. Did he just call me a ‘little’ farmgirl? It was taking all of my strength not to turn into the raging lunatic like him, and pounce on him. Vanity flattened her ears and took a few steps back.

        “Ah think ya need to calm down fer a second and talk ta me. Ahm Applejack, and yer Kindlin’,” Now, normally, I was a pony that kept her cool when talking to Kindling. I had a lot of respect for the guy, but… oooh, he knew how to push my buttons. “The stallion who lives all the way over in the Crystal Mountains,” Kindling slightly backpedaled, before his temper flared. He flicked his tail roughly, almost like it was a whip.

“How do you know that!?” Kindling hollered. A few ponies turned their heads to look in our direction. Kindling really knew how to attract attention, didn’t he? I grinned towards the stallion triumphantly.

“Because I know ya, and ya gotta remember just who ah am!” I replied. Vanity nodded

behind me. She had been surprisingly quiet this entire time. I never really heard of Vanity and Kindling actually getting along, for that matter. Back at the farm, Kindling told me that she found Vanity’s boasting to be rather obnoxious.

“Or what about me? Remember? Pride? Mare with a tendency to be a little full of herself here? The most glamorous of us seven? One of the most prettiest and dazz-”

“VANITY!” I rest my case.

“Heh...still working on it…” Vanity flushed, before realizing her mistake and strolling off

somewhere near the television. She was acting strange recently, and I didn’t notice it until now. For a while, she appeared to be getting her constant prideful rants under control. Before this, I hadn’t heard her say one thing about herself. But when Ennui disappeared, she took a turn for the worse.

        “You better hope that we don’t see each other in the arena. You may be a mare, but in this competition, stuff like that doesn’t matter. I’ll pound you so hard, you’ll start speaking proper english!”  I held back the blush that was forming rather quickly. I wasn’t a dirty minded mare, but he really needed to learn to word what he’s saying better. But I had no right to be a hypocrite, I had a horrid southern drawl myself.

        Before I had any time to retaliate, Kindling stormed off. Boy, was he steaming. I think I could have handled that a little better, honestly. With a sigh, I stared at the ground, before going back to watch the next fight over the television screen with Vanity.

***

        “He cheated,” Rainbow Dash huffed. She sat slouched in the seat on the other side of me. Her cheeks have been red ever since she took her seat, and it was rather difficult to contain my laughter. “That little brat! The next time I see him-”

        “You’ll get your flank kicked a second time?” Aphrodite interjected with a laugh, as she brought a hoof up to her mouth. Rainbow Dash bit her lip to keep herself from saying something that she would regret. Instead of insulting the mare back, she continued to mumble to herself. I almost felt bad for her. She must be thoroughly embarrassed after what had just happened.

        “If I was able to fly, I woulda won. Stupid rules,” she grumbled. I looked over at her, and she seemed to have noticed that I heard her. From then on, her mumbling continued at a much quieter volume. I turned my gaze back to the scoreboard, where something caught my attention.

        “Wait a second, the board says that we’re just starting the second round! How come we didn’t see Kindling, or Vanity for that matter?” I questioned, breaking the silence and not wasting any time asking about the task at hoof. Seriously, was I the only one that couldn’t stop thinking about Kindling, here? There are still a decent amount of fighters left in the competition, and only two are on our side looking for Kindling. Say that Kindling and Applejack or Vanity make it to the final round, well, that’s not a very likely chance!

        “Yeah, but you do know there’s a second arena, right?” Aphrodite said, pointing a ways to our right. On the other side of the stadium was an arena very similar to the one in front of us, spotlight and all.

        “Are you kidding me!? We missed Kindling AND Vanity?” I groaned. For the umpteenth time that day, I attempted to slam my head into the chair in front of me. Aphrodite noticed this and wrapped an fore leg around me.

        “Aw, don’t worry. They both won! They’re actually starting the semi-finals now! It’s on the scoreboard, hun~” Aphrodite purred. I nodded just a little bit as I gazed over to the tournament bracket on the large screen. I felt extremely stupid. How did I not see that there was a second arena. Granted, it was impossible to spot in with the vast amount of speakers, curtains, and workers in the way. I needed to pay a little more attention. Maybe I didn’t get as good of sleep as I had originally thought. I nodded slightly before Aphrodite tightened her grip, bringing me just a little bit closer to me.

        I felt a shiver run up my spine as she breathed onto the side of my neck. I did a double take, and there was a moment of absolute bewilderment before I forcefully pushed her away. By Celestia, is she good as what she did. I wasn’t even bisexual, and her breath made me completely stop in my tracks. She got all those ponies in bed somehow, but now I think I had a better understanding. Wait. I don’t think these thoughts are helping me out in any way. I felt something burn deep inside my stomach.

        Aphrodite sat back in her seat, and dug her hoof deep into my popcorn. She plopped some on her tongue with a satisfactory grin on her face. “You hesitated,”

        “Shut up, Aphrodite,” I grumbled.

***

        I hope you all saw that. I really, truly hope you all noticed that. She hesitated! She actually didn’t resist when I decided to make my move! She does feel something towards me, and I think I may have just proved it. She showed all the signs that she did. Her face was redder than a rose, and her eyes were wider than ever. Not entirely from surprise, but from embarrassment.

        I will cherish that kiss for the rest of my life. When I snapped out of… whatever it was, and I noticed that I was kissing the mare of my dreams? I tingled with ecstasy, and I could feel the intense pressure build up inside of me. I had to keep my hind legs shut for quite some time after that for… obvious reasons. I’ve kissed many of ponies throughout my life, but that was definitely the best. She actually slipped her tongue into my mouth! How great is that!?

        I told myself that I would try to control my lust for others, specifically a certain lavender mare, but after that kiss I was finding it more and more difficult. I mean, we’re getting to spend so much quality time together! Also, I was on a horrendous sexual dry spell. It’s been about two weeks, and I felt terrible. I need some kind of nourishment. Toys can only do so much. Besides, Twilight took most of mine away after I had… ahem, lost my other one earlier. But it’s okay, I always kept a few spared. I may or may not have one of me right now.

        After about fifteen more minutes of butt kicking, angry grumbling, and sensual flirting, Twilight finally managed to shush me. She thrusted the popcorn in her lap into mine, causing me to frown. Diving to the bottom of that popcorn box was the closest I’ve been to touching that sweet...succulent-

Ahem, nevermind.

        “Shh! Vanity’s on next!” Twilight hissed. I looked over at the scoreboard to confirm that she was actually correct. For once today, she was actually becoming observant. She did seem rather off today, but I didn’t pay much attention to it. I was more interested in Vanity’s match. I had seen her fight Pinkie Pie during the fight with the siren, albeit it was extremely brief. From what I had seen, this mare knew her stuff.

        I never really knew what to think about Vanity. She was always kind of the fly on the wall to me. I never really took out the time to actually get to know her. I know her as that one pony with the most pride. She was very pretty, but she wasn’t my type. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to get to know her a little better, considering that she helped save my life, along with that gorgeous white stallion from the castle.

        “Please, everypony! Let’s all give a warm welcome to the eight ponies who had managed to make it to the second round!” I let out a squeal of excitement, while Rainbow and Twilight seemed less than enthusiastic.

        “That should be me up there. If it wasn’t for that no-good, spoiled, piece of-”

        “Oh boy, this is getting intense. I hope that Applejack and Vanity actually got through to Kindling! Maybe they made amends are there is a party being thrown in the back RIGHT NOW!” Pinkie squeaked, just a little too loudly.

        “Probably, Pinkie. Why don’t you go and see?” Rainbow Dash replied, a smug smile on her face. Pinkie Pie readied herself to follow the pegasus’ orders, but Twilight reached over me to grab her.

        “No! Pinkie, she was kidding!” she huffed. I enjoyed the most while it lasted. She was practically on my lap! Ugh! It was so hard to contain myself! Before the fantasies began to slowly creep into my head again, the harsh voice of the announcer brought me back to reality.

        “For the first match of the second round, I’d like to present our first fighter!” I let out another squeal. This was so exciting! “One of the most...uh,” the announcer took out a notecard, and stared down at it as he spoke. “wonderful, and beautiful mares in all of Equestria, heh,” the announcer seemed flustered. Hopefully his wife wasn’t in the audience. He lifted the card a little higher, presumably so that everyone could see that he was reading it word for word.

        “Hey… I thought I was the most beautiful…” I sulked. No one seemed to pay attention. I was hoping Twilight would have a rebuttal.

        “From Ponyville, we have miss Vain Von Glory!” There was a loud smack as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie simultaneously dropped their jaws. Twilight did a spit take, and sprayed soda over the strawberry-colored mare in front of us, who proceed to exclaim with disgust and wander from the stands to clean herself up. Well, not without sharing some unkind words first.

        “Vain Von Glory?” I repeated. So… that was her real name? Well, makes sense that a prideful pony like herself wanted a better nickname to compensate for a rather lackluster birth one. Oh boy, she was not going to hear the end of this one. Vanity’s face was the same color as her mane as she strode up the stairs and into the arena. She didn’t wave or anything, just awkwardly smiled.

        The announcer continued. “She flew all the way from Neighsia just to be here! This is her fourth year and this time she’s determined to make a name for herself, say hello to Mousha!” Ooh, this should be good. A very tall and foreign looking mare wandered up to the arena. I could tell that she was definitely not from around here just by looking at her eyes, which were almost almond shaped. She was dark cerulean, and had a very long and thick brown mane. It almost reached the floor, and ran down both sides of her body. Part of me wondered how she managed not to trip over it. Her legs and body were exceptionally sleek… it was needless to say that I was more or less interested.

        The announcer stepped off the stage. As both of the mares faced each other. They eyed each other up, and the foreign mare flipped all of her hair over to one side. “Begin!”

        Almost instantly, the mares sprinted to each other. Mousha was fast, and she reached Vanity, ahem -- I mean -- Vain Von Glory, on her side of the circle. As soon as the mares were within touching distance, they pushed off with their hooves so they could stand on their hind legs.

        Vanity was the first one to throw punches, expertly and harshly throwing her hooves in the direction of Mousha’s body. Mousha, however, did not waste any time ducking or weaving. She did it so flawlessly. Her body swayed like a coconut tree as she moved out of the way of Vanity’s strikes and jabs.

        Almost every punch that Vanity sent, Mousha deflected them with a flick of her hoof or foreleg. When a punch came her way, she smacked Vanity’s hoof foreleg away, sending the punch flying behind her. It was such a beautiful presentation. It was like she was barely even trying, even though she was. I wasn’t sure, but I think she was doing some kind of wu-shu. I wasn’t surprised, as wu-shu was a fighting style native to Neighsia. At one point, Mousha twirled her body, catching Vanity off guard when Mousha’s exceptionally long mane created a large blanket of dancing hair. Before Vanity knew it, she was sprawled on the ground from a rather rough punch to the chest. She didn’t back down, and was back on her hooves in seconds.

        “Wow, this Mousha mare is good. It’s like she’s dancing out there!” Twilight marveled. She was absolutely awestruck, and it was slightly amusing.

        “Yeah, she’s doing wu-shu. That’s what it’s supposed to be like. Look at how flexible and quick she is. I mean, I’m still in my days where I can be incredibly flexible so-” Twilight shushed me. I really should have seen that coming. I hoped that Vanity would actually win, however it didn’t appear to me like that was happening. Hey, at least she lasted longer than Rainbow Dash.

        I turned back to the arena to see Vanity slam her hoof into the Neighsian pony’s stomach. Mousha stumbled back onto all fours. Obviously, Vanity had hit her in a very soft part of her gut. Vanity jumped into the air, ready to finish this match with a strong kick to the mare’s well-exposed back. But something caught my attention, something that I wish I didn’t see: Mousha was grinning.

        “Uh oh…” I said out loud. Twilight opened her mouth, but closed when she realized that she’d much rather watch the match then ask questions. At almost the last second, Mousha tumbled out from under Vanity’s awaiting kick. Vanity landed on all fours on the ground. It was very dangerous for ponies to jump like that, and land on only two legs. It was very easy to break something like that. Before Vanity had a chance to turn around, Mousha jumped and twisted her body. She extended her leg as a loud smack echoed through the arena, as it connected with Vanity’s spine. Vanity screamed in both surprise, and discomfort at what I could assume was the immense pain of having a rock hard hoof collide with her. Vanity slid to the ground, with one hoof clutching her back.

        “Vanity! Oh my gosh!” Twilight stood out of her seat for a moment. A gong rang out, signalling that the match was over. There was a wet spot on the arena floor that I assumed was Vanity’s tears.

        “That looked like it hurt…”

        “Ouch…”

        “The winner is Mousha!” exclaimed the announcer. He tried to hold Mousha’s hoof in the air, but she jerked away. The announcer cocked his head as she lolled over to Vanity’s writhing body. I let out a soft smile as Vanity was thrown onto her back, and was taken backstage. What do you know, the foreign mare actually cared. That, or she didn’t want to look back in front of an audience by letting a poor, injured mare suffer on the ground. Hm, well. Is it me, or are these matches going by very quick? Maybe it’s just because the fighters that are there for Kindling are lackluster in general.

        “It’s…it’s all up to Applejack now…” Twilight murmured, slouching back into her seat.

***

        It was a little while later when Vanity was escorted from backstage to her seat, resting on the opposite side of Rainbow Dash. She had a small band aid on her back, right over the bones of her spine, but she appeared to be okay. She could actually walk, and she wouldn’t be a vegetable, so I guess things worked out rather well. Twilight was more than concerned, however.

        “Are you sure you’re okay?” Twilight asked, looking over me. “You got struck pretty hard…” Vanity wiped a few tears off of her face.

        “Yeah, just hurts a little bit. I’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. At least I got to the second round!” a small glimmer of a smile braced itself on her face as she held a hoof to her chest.

        “Did you manage to talk to Kindling?” Twilight asked. Well, okay then, let’s talk for two seconds about her brush with almost being hospitalized so we can chat about Kindling. Makes perfect sense to me, Twilight.

        “Yeah, we did,” Twilight’s ears perked up. I looked over at Pinkie, who seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the fight that was going on in the arena at the moment. I wasn’t paying too much attention to it anymore.“Kindling doesn’t remember either of us. It’s all up to Applejack now. Maybe they’ll be lucky enough to get paired up, or something. Or they’ll both make it to the finals?” Vanity sighed and turned to look at Rainbow. “I wish Rainbow and I were still in the match, although most of us told you it was a bad idea to sign up in the first place…” Rainbow Dash waved a hoof.

        “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Miss Vain Von Glory.”Vanity snarled at the cyan pegasus, who managed to hold back just a little bit of laughter. I had to admit myself, it was a pretty odd name. No wonder she came up with a nickname for herself.

        “They made me give them my birth name! If I told them ‘Vanity’ then they wouldn’t let me sign up! Gosh, well now you know…” Vanity rested her cheek on her hoof in dismay.

        “Don’t worry, surely Ennui will get a kick out of it!”

        “That’s it!” Even with Vanity’s injury, it didn’t stop her from pouncing on top of the still-laughing Rainbow Dash. Everyone in our seating area spent less attention on the fight in the arena, and more so on the brawl in the stands as Vanity threw a torrent of kicks, elbows, and punches. I stared with amusement as my mind began to wander.

        Now, all this situation needed was a small kiddie pool of whipped cream…

        Hmm…