The sun was bright. I lifted the blanket over my head and closed my eyes. Then my alarm clock decided that it was the perfect time to ring. With a grunt I tossed the blanket off myself and slam a hoof down on the buzzing machine. I gave a loud yawn and lifted myself out of bed. Tank gave a yawn to match mine and I gave him a few pats on the head. I then headed to the bathroom to take care of my morning routine. Brush teeth, reflect on the can, and get dressed.

While I was getting ready, Tank slowly walked over to the answering machine and put his foot down on it.

"Congratulations, Miss Dash. Your registration for the ninth UEAA rank is now complete," A voice sounded that didn't belong to Fluttershy.

"We have faxed you some information about the ranks and encourage you to continue the fight. There will however, be a small fee to continue the fight. Thank you and have a nice day."

More fees? It felt like a rip-off, but thanks to Colgate and now Doctor what's-his-face, I had plenty of bits to spare. Wasting no time, I collected my keys off the bedside shelf and headed out to town.

My first stop was to see an old friend. She had a shop that was only a block from my motel, so I left Schpeltiger in the parking lot. My friend was a witch doctor who had taken an interest in tinkering with small machines. With her native gypsy magic or whatever, and her newly found love for machines, she could make the best beam katanas in Equestria.

I entered the junk yard and pushed open the door to her shop. The door easily gave and slammed open making me jump a few feet in the air.

"Rainbow Dash, why must you always enter so brash?" A voice sounded to my left. I turned to find just the zebra I was looking for.

"Yeah, sorry about that Zecora. Tell me next time you use a whole can of WD-40 on a single door would you?" I joked. The inside of the place, I'll admit, it still looked weird even after seeing it more than once. The walls were covered with masks, tools, shelves that held strange mixtures in glass containers, and tribal markings. On the floor were old looking rugs, a saw table, toolboxes, giant pots for cooking potions, and various other tools scattered around.

"It's been a while so I thought I'd see what you were up to, " I said. Zecora gave me a deadpanned expression.

"And... See if you had any new items," I smiled and rubbed the back of my head.

"In fact I do, and I suppose you want to try it out too," she replied as she dug through a cabinet. After a few moments she emerged with the hilt of a beam katana in her mouth and tossed it over to me. I caught it in my hooves and attached it to my hoof strap. At first I noticed that the handle was smaller and white, rather than black. I then powered it up and it shone with a bright blue light. The beam wasn't as thick as my Blood Berry, but I could feel a stronger heat emit from it when I held my other hoof closer to it.

"No guide bar?" I questioned.

"No need, this is just a prototype, but it is much more stable that your Blood Berry. I call it Tsubaki," Zecora explained.

"That didn't rhyme," I pointed out with a smirk.

"Keep asking for trouble, and the cost will be double" she retorted.

"Alright, alright," I backed off and paid her the bits. "I'll see you later."

"Otaku," I heard as I left.

Back on the streets I headed to the ATM and made my payment. Having no more errands to run for the day, I headed back to my motel, eager to try out Tsubaki.

I greeted Tank on my way in as he chilled in his favorite spot on the futon. I was about to check the answering machine when my bluetooth rang.

"Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy's voice sounded in my ear.

"Yeah?" I responded. There's no way she could be calling about the next fight right? I made the payment not five minutes ago.

"The next fight is ready." I didn't know how she could have got the payment already, but I didn't argue. Maybe they had a room full of ponies just waiting all day for payments.

"Alright who- Wait a minute. Why are you telling me this over the phone?" I asked.

"... Well, I umm... Don't know what to wear to the UEAA party tonight. There's going to be a lot of important ponies there today. I'm getting fitted right now and- EEEP!" she ended with a squeak. D'awwww. I could have sworn I heard a familiar "Sorry, darling" in the background, but decided not to ask.

"Fine, whatever, who do I fight?" I asked with a groan.

"She is waiting for you at Sweet Apple Acres," Fluttershy responded.

"What? That's all the way in another county," I said. Looks like Schpeltiger and I were in for one hell of a road trip.

"Oh stop your complaining. Hurry up and go kill more ponies like you always do," she snapped back.

"Damn, alright. Bye," I responded. I heard the sound of blowing raspberries and then the line went dead.

* * *

The ride out to the country was a quiet one. I hardly saw any other vehicles on the trip and I had to stop once for gas. The buildings and houses changed to bushes and trees and I got farther from the city. By the time I had reached the place, the sun was on the horizon and the sky was painted with rich yellows and vibrant oranges.

I parked Schpeltiger by an old looking farm house and gave the wooden door a knock. A few minutes and knocks later, still no answer. My gaze shifted to the many apple trees that decorated the land and out of the corner of my eye I spotted a figure pulling a cart in the distance. Then my bluetooth rang.

"Have you arrived yet Rainbow? The fight starts as soon as you enter the orchard. Win, and you'll rise to eight in rank. Lose, and you drop deeper into hell. I don't think you'll survive this fight, but you can try if you want to. You rock, woo hoo. Trust your Loyalty, and head for the Garden of Madness."

I trotted closer to the figure and it turned out to be a pale yellow filly with a rose colored mane. She had striking amber eyes and on her flank was a cutie mark of a shining red apple with three apple blossoms surrounding it. The filly looked to be around fourteen or fifteen and seemed strangely familiar.

"Yo," I called out as I approached to announce my presence. The filly stopped her pulling and gave me a look over, but didn't make eye contact.

"Y'all here fer the fight?" she asked in a thick accent. I know I've heard that voice before, but I couldn't put my hoof on it.

"That's right, how 'bout it?" I asked in return.

"All right. Let me pull this in the barn and we can rumble there," she answered. As we walked I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Not in the romantic way, but I knew her from somewhere and I couldn't stop thinking about it

"Would y'all stop gawking at me like that?" she asked. I felt my face instantly heat up as I fumbled for an excuse.

"Pfff, don't flatter yourself filly," I answered. Lame I know, shut it.

Once in the barn she pulled her cart full of apples to a large pile of the same and went over to an old looking chest while I looked over the inside of the barn. The place was weathered and worn. There were cracks in the walls, entire planks missing in some places and the golden sunlight penetrated through the cracks and left the barn in an eerie light.

The filly returned with a katana in her mouth. Now that was unexpected. A farmer holding a Neighponese katana, and a nice one at that. I let out a sigh, if I could get over a witch doctor with a love for mechanics, I could deal with a samurai farmer.

"Y'all really don't 'member me at all, do ya?" she asked. This was the part where I should have answered yes and asked how I knew her. This was where I should have cooled down and trusted my head. To hell with that, I had an image to hold up.

"What is this, some drama movie? I remember that I came here to kick your flank and take your title, foal," I responded and pointed Tsubaki at her. The mare just flared her nostrils and cut through the air with her katana. Not one moment later an arch of red light rushed past me and cleaved a curved hole in the wall behind me. Play it off, play it off.

"Nice to see you've got some tricks filly, do try to keep up now," I taunted and rushed towards her.

The pale yellow filly met me half way and our weapons clashed in mid swing. Again and again we clashed blades, sending out bright orange sparks that blended into the dim twilight hue that coated the barn. She then jumped at me and used my head as a spring board to launch herself over me. I quickly dived out of the way as she brought her blade down and cut through the floorboard beneath her.

"Don't buckaf wiff meh, Dasssh," she spoke through her teeth while pointing the shimmering blade at me. She then ducked down and charged.

Something deep in my gut told me not to block or clash blades with her, so I rolled out of the way. I was lucky to have trusted my gut because not a moment after she cut through the air, a support beam was cleanly sliced in half. Just how the hay does a farm pony get to be so skilled with a sword?

"Gentoken," the filly said to herself. I was about to ask what that meant, but was cut off before I could even speak. The filly slammed into me and instantly vanished. I felt a burning sensation to my left. I turned to face the pain and saw a glimpse of the filly before she vanished again. All I could feel was the burning sensation of pain inflicted to my body as the filly teleported around me and cut into me with her katana. I felt my body lifted from the ground as she continued her attack and in one more slash, my body was flung backward against a hard wall.

"Come on Dash, remember me. Remember your friends, I know you can," the filly's voice rang in my ears. Then something awoke within me. Something dark and powerful. I pushed myself to my hooves and spat out a glob of blood from my mouth. Then I muttered four words.

"Strawberry on the Shortcake," I said and the world seemed to stop. The filly charged at me again, but it felt like she was going in slow motion. I side stepped her attacks and even advanced to where my snout was mere inches from hers. I didn't have to raise my beam katana to block, I just kept my body moving as her katana met thin air. With one fluid motion I flung Tsubaki in an upward arc and severed the filly's hoof. She stumbled back and screamed in pain.

"D-damn it Dash!" she yelled and came up for kick. I caught her in mid spin and slammed her into the cold, wooden ground. I then turned my back to her and started to trot away. As far as I was concerned, this was over.

"G-git back here! It's me, Apple B-," she paused. I turned back around to see what the problem was and found the filly's eyes wide open in shock. It looked as if she was paralyzed on the spot. I followed her gaze and found Fluttershy standing in the doorway to the barn. She was staring intently at the filly. If looks could kill, Fluttershy would be a god.

"Another victory, Rainbow Dash. You are now ranked eighth," Fluttershy spoke softly and turned to me, the death glare gone. Just what was the look? Did Fluttershy and this filly have a connection? What was the filly's name? Apple Blue? Apple Baker? Apple Blossom? It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't place my hoof on it.

"What now? You gonna kill her?" I asked. For some reason or another, I knew this filly. I don't know how, but if she died now I would never find out.

"No, she's still a filly. But the rules of conduct have to be followed," Fluttershy explained. The two big cleanup stallions then chose it was safe to walk past Fluttershy and I.

"Then let her live," I stated.

"Why, you want to do it with her now instead of me?" she asked. Sex with a filly?

"Hell no."

"What then? What will you do if she comes back for revenge?"

"Good. She'll grow up and get stronger. That's when I'll kill her."

"You are sick."

"So are you."