The Mane Event of the Evening
“GANGWAY!” A familiar yell caught Twilight’s attention just before a certain light-blue pegasus came crashing through the roof of the library, landing in a heap on a strategically-placed mattress. Twilight sighed and continued shelving yet another stack of books as Rainbow Dash wandered down the stairs to the main floor. “Thanks for the mattress, egghead,” she exclaimed as Twilight finished her task. “How’s the trap door for the roof coming along?”
“It’s coming along pretty well. I’ve just gotta figure out a spell that can detect fast-moving objects in time to automatically open the doors.” Twilight explained. Rainbow gave her a bewildered look. “It’s a work in progress.”
“Meh, sounds like too much work for me,” Rainbow replied with a yawn. “I appreciate the mattress but isn’t that enough?”
“Only if I want to keep replacing the roof three times a week,” Twilight replied. “This isn’t Cloudsdale. I can’t just fix damage by manipulating some clouds.”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s true,” Rainbow mused. “Oh, that reminds me! What are you doing tomorrow night?”
“Well, I was planning on studying up on…”
“Right, egghead stuff,” Rainbow interrupted. “Look, here’s the deal; I’ve got two tickets to the hottest sporting event in Equestria tomorrow night and I think it would be really cool if you came with me.”
“Hotter than the Wonderbolts?” Twilight asked with an air of doubt. Sure, Rainbow Dash was their greatest fangirl but even Twilight had to respect and admire their skills. It made her wonder what could be going on that could rival Rainbow’s adoration for the flying team.
“Okay, maybe second hottest. So whaddya say? Wanna join me for an awesome time or what?” Rainbow asked eagerly.
“Umm…sure, why not. It’s not like I’m behind on any of my studies or anything.”
“That’s the spirit, Twi,” Rainbow exclaimed, slapping the unicorn on the back. “Meet me at the train station tomorrow at three and don’t be late!” Rainbow replied, emphasizing the ‘don’t be late’ part. Wow, she must really be serious if she’s telling me to be punctual, Twilight thought. This must mean a lot to her. I’m glad I said ‘yes’.
“By the way, Rainbow,” Twilight added, stopping the cyan pegasus on her way out the door. “Where is this taking place? Canterlot? Manehatten?” If it was a show that even approached the popularity of the Wonderbolts routine, the only logical venue was in a major city, an exciting proposition for the purple pony, considering how long it had been since she’d last visited an Equestrian metropolis.
“Las Pegasus, baby!” Dash replied, shutting the door behind her.
“Are you seriously going to Las Pegasus?” Spike asked excitedly as Twilight took a second to think about it.
“Um…yeah, I guess so,” she replied, searching for a book on Equestria’s entertainment capital.
“Awe man, that sounds so cool! I wanna go!” Spike exclaimed. “Can I come with you, please?”
“I’m sorry, Spike, but Rainbow only had one extra ticket and you’re not old enough to enjoy everything Las Pegasus has to offer. Besides, someone needs to watch the library while I’m gone, right?”
“Yeah, I guess so…” the dragon grumbled.
“Look, how about I bring you back something from the city? Maybe one of their world-famous JetBlue Sapphires?” Twilight asked slyly.
“Awe, I can’t stay mad at you, Twi,” Spike replied, giving her a hug. “I hope you two have a great time.”
“Thanks, Spike. I’m sure we will.”
The next day…
“You still haven’t told me what we’re travelling all the way to Las Pegasus for,” Twilight mentioned as the train carried them to their destination.
“I told you, you’ll see when we get there,” Rainbow replied with a wink. “I don’t wanna spoil the surprise.”
“This must be something pretty interesting,” Twilight commented. “Usually, you can’t wait to tell me what we’re doing.”
“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t sure you’d say ‘yes’ if you knew what we were going to. I mean, it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.” Rainbow answered.
“And that would be?” Twilight asked with a suspicious expression.
***
“EFC?” Twilight exclaimed in disbelief as they stood in front of the regal-looking Equestria Grand Garden Arena. “As in, 'Equestria Fighting Championship'?”
“You bet!” Rainbow said proudly. “This is only the fastest-growing sport in Equestria and you and I have floor seats to watch the two best heavyweights in the sport go at it! Isn’t that awesome?” Twilight sighed.
“I don’t know, Rainbow,” Twilight replied. “This isn’t exactly my thing…” She looked up and around at the crowds of ponies excitedly filing in around them. “…but since we’re here, I guess it wouldn’t hurt. Maybe I can even learn something about pony martial arts and write a…”
“If you say ‘write an essay’, I’ll put a thunderstorm over the library for the next three weeks,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. “You’re supposed to be relaxing right now so cool it with the egghead stuff! I brought you so you could get away from your work and have a little fun! Look, I know that this totally new to you but at least give it a try. You might be surprised.” Twilight opened her mouth to argue but thought better of it. Rainbow was right; a little R&R would be good for her, notwithstanding the fact that the light-blue pegasus had been kind enough to share her tickets. Twilight smiled up at her friend.
“You’re right,” she agreed, eliciting a smile of relief from her friend. “I’m nothing if not curious. Maybe this’ll be interesting after all.”
“Hey, whatever works for ya,” Dash replied. “C’mon, let’s go find our seats. The prelims are about to start.”
Later…
As much as the ‘arts’ component of the martial arts escaped her, Twilight still had to respect the tenacity and courage of the fighters slugging it out in the octagonal cage in the center of the arena. The preliminary rounds were, according to Rainbow Dash, ‘made of pure awesome’, with one bout in particular supposedly guaranteed to be ‘Fight of the Night’. Finally, after the prelims were over, the main card began. Rainbow buzzed with excitement as the fighters walked out towards the octagon, each accompanied by their own music. At least some of the tunes are pretty good, Twilight thought as her hoof absentmindedly tapped to one in particular.
The main card fights were easily the most exciting, besides the epic prelim bout that had them both at the edge of their seats. They watched a terrific one-round knockout by George St. Prancier against Nick Dapples and cringed as Lyoto Martingale cracked the chin of Handerson Silver with a vicious front buck, knocking him out cold, much to the delight of the crowd.
“Ha ha, yes!” Rainbow cried. “I made a bet with Derpy for Martingale in Round Two and now she owes me 40 Bits and a dozen muffins!” They gasped at a terrific submission of Bighoof Silva by Minotaur Nogueira, earning him a title shot against the winner of the night’s main event and before they knew it, it was time for the main event to begin.
“Look, it’s starting!” Rainbow exclaimed, pointing up at the Jumbo-Tron over the octagon. “Ooh, we can even hear the commentary!” They leaned forward in their seats to catch what they could as the fighter’s walkout music (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6f3NiwIgG8) began to play. Rainbow giggled like a schoolfilly as the first fighter walked by them and even managed a quick high-five as the huge light-brown earth pony sporting a double-barbell cutie mark passed. The crowd was on its feet as he entered the octagon and did a quick lap around it for good measure.
“What was his name again?” Twilight asked a very excited Rainbow.
“Here!” She replied hurriedly, passing her a brochure which Twilight immediately studied.
“Hmmm…’Frank Mare’, heavyweight, 33 years old, 6’3, 240 lbs…it says here he’s one of the best…’submission artists’ in all of Equestria.”
“Yeah he is!” Rainbow heartily agreed. “He’s the only guy to ever finish Minotaur Nogueira!”
“You mean he did that to him?” Twilight asked in disbelief. “But he won so easily!”
“That’s what’s great about this sport,” Rainbow replied. “Anything can happen.”
“I suppose…” Twilight mused as the music changed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOr0na6mKJQ) and another fighter approached the cage. Twilight again checked the brochure as Rainbow cheered beside her. “This must be ‘Mirko Cro Clop’.” Rainbow nodded.
“I don’t remember where he’s from but he’s a legend! I think he’s only been knocked out once in his entire career! Yeah! Go Mirko!”
“Let’s see…6’2, 220 lbs, 36 years old, heavyweight. Who do you think will win, Rainbow?” Twilight asked, knowing nothing about the subject besides the small amount of information made available by the pamphlet.
“That depends on if Frank Mare can take ‘im down or not,” Rainbow answered as Cro Clop entered the octagon. “It’s a pretty good match. I don’t really know. All I wanna see is an awesome knockout! Ooh, it’s starting!” Rainbow exclaimed as the commentators announced the start of the fight.
“And now with the official introductions, the veteran voice of the octagon, Bruce Bucker!” With that, a middle-aged stallion with a slicked-back grey and black mane with a microphone cutie mark stepped into the center of the cage.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, this is the mane event of the evening!” Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it but something about the stallion’s voice was familiar. “Brought to you by Stompout, an expression of combat known across Equestria, and Transmorphers; Shadow of Nightmare Moon, in theatres this July in 3D. And now, from the sold-out Equestria Grand Garden Arena in Las Pegasus! Iiiiiiiiiiiiiit’s…time! Five rounds in the EFC heavyweight division! Introducing first; fighting out of the blue corner! This stallion is a striker holding a professional record of 27 wins, 10 losses, two draws, and one no-contest. He stands six feet two inches tall, weighing in at 220 lbs. Fighting out of Equoatia, he is the former Buckforce heavyweight champion…Mirko Cro Clop!” There was an eruption of cheers as the white and red earth pony readied himself for the fight. “And now, introducing his opponent; fighting out of the red corner! This stallion is a Jiu-Jitsu fighter holding a professional record of 16 wins and six losses. He stands six feet three inches tall, weighing in at 240 lbs. Fighting out of Las Pegasus; fillies and gentlecolts, he is the former EFC heavyweight champion…Frank Mare!” More cheers and a few ‘boos’ followed the introduction as the fighters met in the middle of the octagon. “Our lead physician octagon-side is Doctor Whooves and our referee in charge inside is Herb Green.”
Twilight wasn’t sure but there was something in the air that made her excited to watch yet another slugfest. There was a lot of energy in the arena, most of which emanated from her excited blue friend who cheered like her life depended on it. As Arianny Celestia did a quick trot around the octagon, levitating a ‘One’ sign above her head, the fighters touched their padded blue and red horseshoes together and took their places.
“Ready to fight?” Herb Green asked of Cro Clop, who nodded. “Ready?” Frank Mare nodded as well. “Let’s do it!”
The crowd was on its feet and some even hovered with excitement as the two huge stallions collided, each throwing stiff jabs and heavy hooves and seemingly unafraid to stand up on their hind legs and trade shots. Rainbow was practically beside herself with excitement as she yelled out instructions and made punching and bucking motions in and above her seat. Twilight watched in fascination at the relative intricacy of some of their combinations and found the excitement and electric energy of the crowd (especially Rainbow Dash) to be quite infectious. In fact, as the second round began, she found herself cheering and yelling almost as much as the blue pegasus as they clobbered each other. Finally, three minutes into the third round, Frank Mare landed a huge right hoof that dropped Cro Clop. Wasting no time, he jumped on the downed fighter and soon had him in a rear-naked choke, at which point, Cro Clop lightly tapped his free hoof on the foreleg of Frank Mare. With that, Herb Green jumped in and the fight was over, meeting a deafening roar of approval from the audience. Twilight nodded and Rainbow did a quick loop-de-loop above her seat as the two fighters embraced each other and returned to their respective corners only to be summoned into the middle again by the referee, accompanied by Bruce Bucker.
“Fillies and gentlecolts, referee Herb Green has called a stop to this contest in the fourth minute of the third round. Declared the winner by stompout due to submission by rear-naked choke…Frank Mare!”
“Yeah Frank!” Rainbow cried. “Way to go!” Even Twilight couldn’t help but cheer as the referee raised the victorious stallion’s leg.
Later…
“So? What’d ya think?” “Rainbow asked excitedly as the train carried them back to Ponyville.
“Well, it was certainly…different,” Twilight admitted. “It was interesting though,” she added, seeing the expectant look on her friend’s face.
“Does that mean you’ll come with me to the next one? It’s Jock Jones vs. Chael Saddle.” Twilight thought about it.
“Sure, Rainbow. Sounds great.”
“Ha, I knew you’d like it! Good thing I won this year’s Best Young Flier’s competition, huh?”
“Definitely! Those passes couldn’t be cheap.”
“They’re not! Almost as expensive as Wonderbolts Seasons tickets.” Twilight smiled.
“Thanks again for inviting me, Rainbow. I think I learned not to judge something at first glance that I don’t know anything about. Sometimes you’ve just gotta give these things a chance.”
“No problem. Glad you enjoyed it, egghead.”
End
