Luna turned to see the approaching Lunar Guard momentarily being stopped for a quick, pleasant exchange with Mrs. Cake. To make her entrance even better, she was escorting Trixie no less.

"Well, well, if it isn't my sister’s favorite guard that got away. To what honor do we deserve your company this evening, Sergeant Major Cutter?"

Cutter halted a few feet from Luna and saluted, very much all business as usual.

"Princess Luna, as ordered by Princess Celestia, I have escorted Trixie Lulamoon to aid in… understanding recent developments."

Quick to cover her ass, Twilight stepped up to greet the runaway magician.

"Trixie, it's good to see you again. I can’t wait to catch up, not to mention we still have a lot of questions to ask about what you remember from the human’s arrival here."

Cutter, while curious, couldn't help but notice what her daughter was wearing. Though her exact thoughts on attire were nearly impossible to discern. At least until she opened her mouth to express those masked thoughts.

"Baby Ovens, dear, when and how did you get that?" She asked with an overly affectionate and motherly voice. "And it matches your cute little outfit. Are you trying to impress somepony I should know about?"

Ovens turned red with embarrassment as some nearby guests let off a few snickers at her expense.

"Oh, all this? Well, what a coincidence that you noticed these while you asked me that after you brought Trixie here."

With a motherly laugh, Cutter asked, "Why would you say that it's a coincidence?"

Ovens sheepishly grinned and took a step closer to Sniff, leaning softly into his side left vacant after Mayor Mare made sure to remove herself.

It took a moment, but when Cutter made the connection, her loving smile dropped into a glare that made Sniff immediately realize the hornet’s nest Ovens just kicked.

“What?” Cutter snapped, but then instantly tried to restrain herself. “Ovens, dear. I know you’ve had a hard time these past few years, but this is simply-”

“Simply the best decision I ever could have made,” Oven Fresh quickly finished her mother's statement.

“And this has nothing to do with having to make it on my own. I wanted to stay in Ponyville because I like it here, so I stayed. I wanted to keep the bakery because I loved providing for Ponyville, so I kept it. I wanted Peter because he makes me happy and has shown me things I never knew were possible, and he wants to be with me. So, I'm not giving him up like everything else you asked me to.”

The sudden jump in aggression left Ovens with one final note to add. Though, it was more of an ultimatum than anything else.

“Now I want you to not make this an issue in front of him and my friends, or are you going to make me choose again?”

A stern and determined look washed over Cutter's face.

"No," she coldly answered as she took the pommel of her sword in her wing. "This time mother knows best, and I will not leave you with one so closely attached to danger."

A swirling of magic gathered in Oven Fresh's horn and quickly dissipated, warming the air around them. Then, with a ferocity not shown in the Everfree Forest, an inferno held behind her eyes narrowed in on her mother as she stood ready.

"Mother didn't learn her lesson last time not to underestimate her daughter."

With a sharp exhale through her nostrils, bright flames of white streamed out and set the ground between her and the overprotective mother ablaze, making all present jump back.

"You were right about one thing Mother. Peter is very closely attached to danger. You're looking at her, and she’s not leaving him anytime soon."

This was getting out control and something would have to be done. The crowds were backing away, while the humans started to look like they were approaching the point of fight or flight. Most concerning to Luna though, was that none were more affected than Kelly who held a death grip around Big Mac. The sight of Kelly taken by fear set Luna to act with her Royal Canterlot Voice.

"STAND DOWN!" She ordered with such a booming voice that it lowered the mini-inferno to a few flickering flames.

With the escalations put on hold, Luna glared at the two. "Both of you."

Ever dutiful, Cutter released her sword and backed off while Oven Fresh held up a forehoof and pushed Sniff away with her.

With so much passion coursing through this family feud, there was only one way to settle this. Now that her mind was made up, Luna was going to make this an interesting night.

"Ladies and gentlecolts! I have a wonderful announcement to make!"

The crowd of frightened masses froze, but out of respect to the announcement. as well as their interests, listened closely.

"I am excited to introduce the next two combatants for tonight's entertainment! One of my very own Lunar Guard has made it clear that she wishes to settle another rivalry! Henceforth, in commencement of the warrior spirit, as is to be celebrated today, we shall start a tradition celebrating the manifestation of these passions by settling them in our very own U.P.F.C.”

A silence fell over the party, clueless to what she was talking about. She needed to make it clear, thus….

“THE ULTIMATE PONY FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP!”

The many ponies that had witnessed the human version erupted in celebration. The humans, however, were not as excited. Thankfully, Luna knew the line she was walking and spoke candidly to the fighters.

"Cutter, I understand your concerns, and Oven Fresh, your passions are justified. Win or lose, you will both settle your differences here. Fore I will not let the distinguished senior enlisted besmirch the good name of my respected guard, as has been by others of my sister's Solar Guard. And you Oven Fresh, you wear that medal for good reason. Do not let your passions misguide you.”

She turned away from both of them, ready to join Kelly’s side and hopeful to make this work for the greater good.

“Separate yourselves and prepare to fight. Both your honor and desires may lay in the balance.”

She joined Kelly and Big Mac and spoke softly to calm her new partners.

"You need not worry. Not only do you have Big Macintosh here with you, I would not let any further harm come to you. Their quarrel, I know all too well from their dreams. I had hoped they had long since buried the hatchet, but they have much to work out amongst themselves."

Meanwhile, thinking the coast was clear, Sniff maneuvered his way far from Cutter to speak with Spitfire. Assuming he could pry her away from Soarin, which wasn't going to be difficult.

Said pegasus, was not in the mood to be mocked or toyed with.

"Hold up, listen here primate."

Sniff ever quick with a counter sought to calm the mare.

"Woah, what? Hold up a minute. I'm here to help you, not cause any problems. Luna wants a spectacular event tonight. All I want to do is make sure you get the recognition you deserve when you step into the ring."

He seemed to have captured her attention. Best make the most of it.

"In fact, I'm actually going to help promote you when you do your next airshow here in Ponyville. I think you'd like what I have to offer."

On the other side of the feuding family, Twilight had used the distraction to pull Trixie away from the crowd and do some preemptive damage control.

"I'm glad you came back, Trixie. So much has happened since you were away. We think we found the pony behind what brought the humans here. This wasn’t your fault."

Surprisingly, Trixie didn't seem calmed by this.

"The Pony of Shadows, Celestia told me he was behind this?"

While Twilight was relieved to hear that she was at least somewhat caught up, she quickly grew nervous when Luna had snuck up on them. After all, she had business of her own with the runaway mare.

"Trixie, I've been looking for you."

Trixie immediately jumped in fright, but despite her growing fear of a possible punishment, seeing Luna was still a relief.

"Oh thank goodness, and I've been looking for you, too. My nightmares have been… let’s just say there’s a lot to catch up on."

There was an awkward pause as Trixie looked back at the festivals, many of her own questions starting to overtake her previous concerns.

"Is this a party for defeating The Pony of Shadows? Am I going to have to fight somepony for showing up late like Cutter, and why are you wearing that, Twilight?

Twilight hung her head, the added drama was going to potentially ruin what she had hoped would be a fresh new start. However, Trixie was a focal point in all of this need to be clued in, even if that did require a lengthy explanation.

"Cerberus went with Fluttershy into the Everfree Forest to find a cure for Becky. They were attacked by Timberwolves so we threw this party to thank everypony who helped. No pony except the usual suspects and our human friends know about The Pony of Shadows, and we're not ready to go public about it. So, can you keep quiet about all that until we can talk in private… Like tomorrow?"

Luna smirked, wanting to answer at least two of the questions.

"You can request a fight if you want to, but the two set up right now are to help settle some rivalries. As for the dress, Twilight and her friends wanted to look nice for their new special somehumans."

Special somehumans? Trixie was taken aback and held her tongue as flashbacks of what she had seen in her dreams were replaced with Twilight and the others doing the same.

Twilight however blushed, as she wasn't ready to open about it. Not completely at least, but the cat was out of the bag as it were.

"Yes, I'm dating Sniff. He's an amazing stallion and I'm looking forward to seeing all the new things I can learn with him. We can talk about that later, as well. For now, how about we just enjoy the party and we'll catch up tomorrow? Oh, and don't be surprised when you see or hear that… well..."

As Twilight and Trixie continued to talk, Luna shifted her attention back to the party.

"It appears our dear humans have very large… hearts. More than enough to earn them more than one special somepony of their own. But, if you would be so kind as to wait until after the fights before asking questions, we would most appreciate the avoidance of further unwanted drama."

As Luna wandered back to the others, Trixie did have one burning question that needed to be answered, less her visions were to be made real.

"Twilight, you said that you're dating Sniff, not Chris? Was Huffin Press just trying to start a fight with the scary guard lady?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow and held back lingering issues about such romantic interests more than she was concerned with the miscommunication at this point.

"Nnnnnooo…Chris and I, we didn't-" She rolled her eyes, wanting to get back to the party and deciding to be blunt. "I was insecure and acted like a bitch to Chris. Stick around enough and you'll figure out what that means. Otherwise, Chris is nice, but he's with Starlight and the rest of their herd, harem, whatever. I love Peter, and her name is Oven Fresh, not Huffin Press. We’re both dating him and...”

Even trying to be blunt, there was too much to cover and more pressing matters to address. For now, so long as Trixie kept her mouth shut, that would be enough to appease Twilight.

“This shit is ridiculously complicated and I just want to drink and relax tonight. For now, unless it’s an emergency, can we talk tomorrow?"

Suddenly, it all came together for Trixie. Twilight and the others were all with their humans. Celestia hadn't interfered and Twilight didn’t block others from pursuing their own relationships. That had to be it! Humans were the key. The world was saved and all Trixie had to do was… not get involved?

Fuck you, fate. That’s what this whole nightmare marathon had amounted to in the end. Still,if it was over, Trixie could let her hair down for the night.

"Relax? If this is really over, then I can't wait to join you. These last few weeks have been miserable."

As Trixie and Twilight made their way back, Sniff was given the go-ahead by Luna to start the event. Now with a little help from Pinkie and her portable speaker, as well as Vinyl working the music again, it was time to sell this shit.

"Ladies and gentlecolts!" He shouted in his best announcer voice. "Tonight we have an amazing event to share with you. The greatest warriors of your kingdom, including the recently double-double lucky host of this gathering, are pleased to present the first! Ultimate! Pony! Fighting! Championship!"

The crowd roared with their approval and cheers, while Benny grinned and shook his head next to his two girls.

"Lucky? Sure. Pleased? Not so much."

Sniff kept the crowd anticipation growing with more build-up as Vinyl worked her magic on the side to blast Unleash The Archers - Test Your Metal from his phone. A rather useful spell he would owe her a favor for.

"Our first fighter of the night. She might be a new face to some of you, but we've been getting to know her rather well." He pointed to the sky as the music grew louder. "Fresh from her battle against the Timberwolves in the Everfree Forest, keeping Equestria safe for both you and me. Rocking a halberd! She's got the looks! She's got the power! The skill! Representing Princess Celestia's Solar Guard with fury and pride!"

High above, two dark clouds floated closer into view and a dark-colored pegasus broke through the mist in golden armor with a chain of lightning strung along to a halberd. The guard soared down with the lighting sizzling and crackling that harmlessly arched over her body and armor.
She kept the impossible feat on display for all to see until she slammed down into the newly created arena, delivering lightning to the ground with a thunderous crash.

As the mist and smoke faded, left standing in the chard grass, stood the first combatant in an aura of flicker static discharges.

"Thunder Gliiiiiiiiiiiiide!"

An obscene display of cheering erupted from the crowd as well as core groups of humans and ponies. All of which drowned out the slowly fading music.

Sniff was impressed. Her introduction was better than she’d described it, though probably a lot more dangerous. However, she wasn’t the only one who was going to make an exciting intro once he started the music for hers.

"Okay! For our next contender!"

Booming through the crowd, Halestorm - I Am The Fire started to play, and let the first few seconds reach the skies above to signal the fliers.

Hearing their cue, Fleetfoot and Soarin dove down with their stream of storm trails from high from their low sitting clouds.

"She's the fiery flier hailing from Cloudsdale! Instructing new cadets, but with no teacher's pets. Natural disasters! Hostile invaders! Looking good in a flight suit, but don't you dare call her cute. The fearless Wonderbolt all the pegasi admire! Clear the landing zone for-"

They maneuvered in and crossed their jetstreams just over the grass on the opposing side of the arena. As they arched up and flew back into the sky, the storm clouds faded and the orange Wonderbolt was standing confidently with a smirk for Sniff to announce.

"Spiiiiiitfiiiiiiire!"

This was much better than what Luna saw for the humans UFC intros and she applauded their introductions while welcoming Sniff back and Chris took to the arena.

"This is so entertaining. Why did none of the humans have such extravagant intros when they entered the arena in the UFC?"

Cerb laughed, clearly knowing where these intros inspiration came from.

"We'll have to show you pro-wrestling sometime. They're all about the theatrics. But that… That was fucking awesome."

While Chris walked out, Thunder surrendered her halberd to Swifty and let Helix remove her armor. This wouldn’t take long, but with Spitfire stepping out of her flight suit, she had the time to throw some shade her way.

"An impressive introduction, Spitfire. I couldn't even see which storm trail you flew in behind."

Spitfire feigned an equal amount of pho-praise in her own platitudes she returned.

"Some of the best moves I have are the ones nopony sees coming. Nice trick with the lightning, by the way. That’s pretty brave wielding it directly like that, but isn't it against regulations to modify your armor to not get shocked by it? The material that insulates our suits ain’t cheap, you know."

Thunder grinned but then chuckled menacingly.

"That's cute, Show Pony. But don't let my name fool you. Mother should have named me Lightning Strike. Bolts of lightning roll off of me like good ideas do on you."

As the last piece of armor was removed, Spitfire was confidently laughing, but Thunder was dead serious and took the opportunity to further sow her seeds for victory.

"You must be really conceited if you think that's funny. Then again, coming from somepony that hasn't figured out that they don't have to literally ride in on the coattails of others to be noticed... I shouldn't be surprised."

As insulted as Spitfire was, and various oooos from the audience were not helping, the idea of beating this guard down had only become that much sweeter to her. Still, she had to admire this soldier's spunk.

"You know, I think if you were an officer, we could have been good friends. Too bad you're not, so you should have learned to respect your superiors. But you’re in luck. I just so happen to be the instructor for that."

Thunder wasn't being cute anymore but knew exactly how to get under this smug pony's skin.

"I could never be an officer, I prefer to work for a living. And this is a fight, you're not my superior. Not in any fashion."

Hearing the rising tensions and quotable quips, Chris stepped in between the two before they chose not to wait for the bell.

"Alright, this is going to be a clean fight. No weapons, biting or any other attempts to permanently maim each other. You will listen to my instructions at all times. If your opponent becomes incapacitated or unable to fight, I will instruct you to stop the fight. This match will last for no more than three, five-minute rounds. You may fight with any part of the body and use your power of flight. It has been decided that you are allowed to use any of your naturally occurring abilities, but they must not reach the levels that could cause permanent harm or be fatal. Do you both understand the rules?"

Both mares nodded, yet still glaring at each other, letting Chris continue so they could get to the part where they could hurt each other.

"Good, now I will be refereeing this fight. You listen to my instructions at all times and adhere to them. Failure to listen to my rules will result in Luna getting involved, and best of luck to either of you if that happens. Now step forward and touch hooves, then return to your corners, and when the bell rings, the fight will officially start."

The two stepped forward and touched hooves like two kids forced to hug after a fight who still hated each other. At least it was better than them slugging it right there and then, but their feelings were on full display as they returned to their corners. On either side, they stood ready while the magic barrier Twilight was set up around them, trapping the two inside for the crowd’s safety.

Outside of the barrier, Pinkie and Spike sat at a table that she had somehow pulled into existence, centered to the arena. This time, Spike was put in charge of recording the fight with Cerb’s phone while Sniff asked Pinkie to give commentary on the fights. She would start just as soon as her first job was done. Which she quickly prepared for by pulling a fairly large bell out of her mane.

Ding! She rang the bell, sending the audience into a roar of excitement as the fight began.

After the bell rang, Spitfire fluttered up into a hovering stance and glared down at the unmoving and unimpressed-looking Thunder.

"Alright scrub, let's see how loose your lips are when you're in a full body wing and hoof cast, drinking through a straw!"

Thunder was silent, remembering what advice Cerb had given her. She knew the plan, but it revolved around taking a lot of risk in the beginning. Her first step involved getting her opponent mad, which was easily done. The next step was observing, thinking, and reacting defensively. Those words of his quickly reminded her of how to make it work.

"I have no idea what a Wonderbolt is capable of, but even if she’s skilled, she's cocky and arrogant. Use that to your advantage like I did against Onyx. Let her come to you, see how she moves, how she fights. Block as much as you can find out where her openings are, then strike."

As much as she wanted to rush out and start pummeling the cocky show pony, Thunder rose up to her hind legs, ready to put Cerb's plan into action and draw her challenger in.

"When I'm done with you, I'm going to pay Rarity to stitch your lips shut. Save Equestria from the national disaster of you running your mouth."

That did it. Spitfire flew in, broadcasting a haymaker. She struck hard, but Thunder brought up her forelegs and blocked it.

Thunder’s back hooves dug into the dirt as she was pushed back. The dull pain of a bruise sinking in deep with a quick lesson was learned. This pony packed a punch, one she could only take many of. She would have to be careful.

A few more things she quickly realized. Spitfire stayed in the air; clearly, that was her comfort zone to fight in. Also, staying grounded would provide more resistance against such airborne attacks, but also gave her more stability and balance. Even if she had blocked the attack while in the air, she would have traveled much farther and used more energy to gain control and reposition herself. Lastly, Spitfire didn’t follow up with another attack. Either she didn’t know how to combat a more resilient fighter, didn’t know how to combo her blows, she was analyzing this fight as well, or-

Spitfire hovered in mid-air with her forelegs crossed and proudly boasted.

“No wonder you guards wear so much armor. Must make it easier to get beat up all the time. You should have kept it on if you didn’t want to get hurt.”

As the crowd cheered on their fighters, Thunder narrowed it down to the last option. Spitfire was arrogant enough to think she had this in the bag. That only left her fighting style to break down. Although, now Thunder was going to have to stay on the tips of her hooves to make sure Spitfire didn’t have a ground game and try to focus attacks on her back legs to throw her off balance. But first, to draw her back in.

“You should find a new career. Your insults are as lame as your airshows, and your punches… it’s no wonder you show ponies didn’t even make it to the fight against Tirek.”

Spitfire flared her wings so hard she nearly dropped out of her hovering stance.

“What?! You need to get your story straight! We were there to fight Tirek on the field of battle!”

That was good, Thunder almost had her, and she changed her pose to a ready stance.

“Yeah, I read the reports. You were there on the field. Right below his hooves, but it was just a field. You didn’t last long enough to make a battle. Even Swift Sails got a hit on Tirek, and she was a young and inexperienced newbie… Then again, she wasn’t a Wonderbolt.”

That had been one insult to many, and Spitfire screamed, “Okay! You asked for it!”

Again, Spitfire charged in, both hooves stretched out for maximum speed.

Thunder watched her advance. She wanted to fly up and clash headfirst, she could probably take her, but she had to stick to the plan. However, this was going to make or break her strategy. Besides being able to hit hard, even in this close distance, Spitfire was flying fast. The analysis continued silently in her head.

“Her first attack came in strong, probably thought I wouldn’t be able to block it. Now she’s going for speed with her forehooves stretched out. Her descent is too sharp for a tackle, she wouldn’t go for another punch, not enough reaction for me not to block it. She’ll come in stronger for a dive kick… time to see what she’s really made of.”

Thunder’s quick thinking paid off as she was ready when Spitfire somersaulted out midair into a dropkick. She avoided the kick, letting Spitfire’s hoove impact into the grass and rebound. With that attack, her mind was clear, or so she thought to herself.

“That’s it then, strictly air-styled sneak attacks, with fast hit-and-run tactics. She’ll probably recover and face me upright to maximize her lateral maneuverability and surveillance. I can’t wait till she sees this.”

As predicted, Spitfire extended her wings to slow her approach to the limits of the arena and turned to realign to her target, but too late and too slow, Thunder had flown up and, before she could react, delivered a swift hoof to the gut.

Outside the arena, Pinkie was busy giving her play-by-play.

“Wow-wee! Thunder avoids a dive kick from Spitfire, and-” She paused as the thud of Spitfire hitting the barrier echoed out of the area. “-Oooou, she didn’t see that one coming. Oh, no! Looks like Thunder Glide isn’t done yet!”

Back inside the arena, Thunder had launched up to keep Spitfire against the barrier and was working her over with a flurry of body blows that Spitfire was barely managing to block. Blow after blow, hoof strikes were delivered to her ribs and forelegs, each hit causing her to tighten up more, becoming more susceptible to the continuing strikes.

Finally having enough, Spitfire caught a left cross and kneed Thunder in the chest to put some distance between the two.

Thunder spun back once but was quick to recover in a full guard as Spitfire struggled to control her descent to the ground and crumbled.

“Wait!” Chris shouted as he made his way in through an opening Twilight created for him.

He rushed over to Spitfire and knelt down to her.

“You took a lot of hits and came down hard. Are you okay to keep going?”

Spitfire coughed and stood up, her eyes burning with rage.

“I’m just getting warmed up.”

That all sounded well and good, but it was little more than tough talk. Of course, he didn’t believe her, but she was already standing and was talking lucidly. He had to at least give her a warning.

“Hey, listen. She was whaling on you for nearly a minute. If she strings you up like that and you can’t fight back, I’m calling the fight. Keep your guard up, and don’t let her work you over like that, or it’s over. You got that?”

Spitfire narrowed her eyes on Thunder, brushing off a patch of matted fur on her chest, not even phased by the kick.

“Yeah, I hear ya. Now let me at her.”

Despite getting her ass kicked and the beating she just took, she was stable, so Chris stood up and raised his hand.

“Fight’s on!”

He quickly backed out of the arena and let the barrier close up for the two to continue.

Of course, Thunder wasted no time trying to egg her opponent on again.

“I’m impressed, Tin Can. You actually hit me. Not only that, you even managed to pick yourself up off the ground.” She cocked a goofy grin. “Was that so you could get the full-body, wing, and hoof cast for me? Because I don’t think I’m going to need it after all, but if you want to tap out, I can ask Nurse Redheart to make you one. I’ll even sign it.”

That had done it. Spitfire rushed in again, this time swinging wildly, but her motions were sloppy and lacked precision. It was easy for Thunder to duck and avoid the few she couldn’t block. She was barely breaking a sweat, staying grounded had proven a wise tactic.

Spitfire, however, was feeling the fatigue and pushing herself. She couldn’t land any effective blows. If she didn’t do something drastic, she was going to lose this fight. All the body blows had made it harder to breathe, she was running mostly on adrenaline.

Crack!

Upon the audible slap that filled the arena, Spitfire’s jaw was throbbing with pain, but Thunder was nowhere in sight. Actually, there was no sight at all. Everything was dark in the world that surrounded Spitfire’s thoughts.

“Did I just get punched? But I just kicked her away from me. There was no way a guard has that kind of speed. Where did she go? Why aren’t I falling? No, that doesn’t matter! I gotta keep fighting! There’s no way I’m gonna lose to that punk! I got to keep punching! Once I can see her again, I’m gonna...”

As her vision returned, she could see the darkening skies above her and her hooves weakly punching up toward the clouds. Then, that chubby human was grabbing her hooves and saying something.

“Humans can fly? Did he hit me with some kind of spell? What is he even saying to me? He better not have used some freaky magic to stop the fight. So help me Celestia, if he stopped the fight so I wouldn’t… am I laying on the ground? Why is one of the female humans flying up here with us?”

Becky snapped her fingers and then waved them in front of Spitfire’s eyes, concerned for the mare's wellbeing and trying to get her attention.

“Spitfire, can you hear me?” She held up the peace sign with her left hand. “How many fingers am I… Shit… She doesn’t know what fingers are. Oh! How many eyes do you see on my face?”

This was absurd. Did these humans really stop the fight to give her a math quiz? She wasn’t going to take this flying down. Now that she was getting her senses about her again, she knew she was, without a doubt, lying on the ground.

“You have two eyes, just like anypony else. What happened? Where did Thunder Glide go? The fight’s not over.”

Suddenly, Soarin' was standing over the downed mare, sporting a rather sad expression on his face.

“Yeah, it is. You got knocked out when Thunder Glide kicked you in the head. What’s the last thing you remember?”

Outside of the arena, Sniff was waiting for the all-clear, wondering how to best spin this turnout. With such amazing introductions, they didn’t even last four minutes. Even worse, the fight was grossly one-sided.

“Luna… did you know Thunder was gonna whoop her ass like that?”

Standing next to him, Luna frowned, disappointed with the spectacle.

"No, not this drastically. I was hoping Cerberus would give her a competitive edge, but that was... Just how good is he?"

Sniff sighed, having seen him lay waste to guys in brawls before. Very few he could claim responsibility for.

"I don't know. He never lost a fight when we were growing up, and he learned a lot more while in the Marines. He was trained to kill with his bare hands, so I’m not sure what all he could have taught someone with hooves with so little time. Even still, Spitfire kinda sucked out there. She had no focus or ground game, only power moves. Those only work if you can hit who you're fighting."

Luna knew her guards were good but couldn't help but grin at seeing what Cerb’s help had likely caused.

"Well then, I suppose it is to our benefit to see that we all have become such good friends. I'd hate to imagine what would have happened if we were enemies."

Sniff laughed, knowing how that would have turned out if Cerb had been overtly hostile.

"Nah, Cerb's a good guy. That and I think Flutters and Diamond Thighs got'em whipped, aaaaaand it looks like she's up. Gotta go."

Leaving the conversation be, Sniff made his way into the arena with a calm and collected Thunder and one very defeated, physically and mentally, Spitfire.

He took his place between them and readied himself to address the crowd as the remainder of the barrier dropped.

"Ladies and gentlecolts! I have never seen two contenders fight like these two! Let’s give both of these warriors a round of applause.”

The crowd cheered loudly, but Spitfire hung her head while there was no appearance of pride coming from Thunder.

“However,” Sniff continued, “There was one clear-cut winner, though this fight would have likely had a much different outcome had some of these powerful attacks found their mark. Your winner, by technical knockout!”

With one hand on the mic, he reached down and grabbed Thunder’s closest hoof and raised it high enough she had to stand up on her hind legs.

“Thunder Gliiiiiiide!”

He gave the crowd a moment to cheer before asking his next question.

“Now, Thunder, you fought a very tough opponent and seemed to control the fight very well. How do you feel about this fight?”

He lowered the mic down to Thunder, hoping she wouldn’t make matters worse.

With the mic in her face, she looked out upon the crowd. Some were excited to hear what she had to say. A few others looked distraught over their favored fighter losing. The sight of those so unhappy brought about some inspiration of what to say.

“Spitfire has certainly earned her place amongst the Wonderbolts. Her talents and skills, as well as her dedication to serving Equestria, are proof alone of that. Our fight tonight was a product of her needing a reminder that we all have different roles we play in the protection and prosperity of Equestria. The Wonderbolts play a pivotal role in these endeavors, and I look forward to perhaps one day working alongside her. Perhaps even see how she trains to punch so hard.”

She turned to Spitfire, though Thunder now looked more than a bit ashamed for such an overwhelming winly but also for how foolish her pride made her act. She couldn’t celebrate this shallow victory.

“Spitfire, we are very different in the roles we play and those we interact with. I welcome you to broaden your horizon and formally meet my new friends.” She turned back to the crowd. “We have much to learn from our new human allies and should share what we can learn from them and continue to make Equestria an even better Kingdom. So, I am dedicating tonight’s fight to helpful hands and leadership Cerberus has brought to our ranks, as well as the rest of his friends who have all left a lasting impact on Ponyville.”

The crowd cheered again. Even those disappointed with Spitfire’s defeat joined in, hopeful for a better tomorrow. Although, a delayed thought reminded Thunder of one pony, in particular, she owed her victory to.

“Oh, and since she’s here, another thank you to Sergeant Major Cutter for all of your training.”

Even Sniff was caught up in the speech and was giving his applause until she closed off with that last part. Though, in hindsight, it would have explained her behavior against Cerb days ago. Something to look into after she was finished with this fight’s loser giving her side.

“Spitfire, you showcased some impressive power and speed out there, but unfortunately, you weren’t able to get your opponent in the position you needed her in to take home the victory. How do you feel about your performance tonight?”

Now that the mic was in her face and Thunder’s words had set the tone, she had a very different outlook on things.

“Not great, Sniff. Thunder Glide was right. Some pegasi do keep their head up in the clouds, even after they land. I wasn’t focused, and I wasn’t very efficient with my energy. I would also be more than happy to work with her in the future, maybe see how well she does in the Dizzatron.”

She looked to Thunder, then to Rainbow Dash, smiling at both of them, though there was a visible amount of pain she was suppressing.

“I’m also reminded of a lesson I had to be rudely shown by one of our newest Wonderbolts. Being the best, and being a good leader, doesn’t come at the expense of others. I should have listened to my top fliers and most promising leaders. I don’t know what these human friends of yours have done, but they have clearly pushed you all in the right direction.”

She turned her attention to the fight’s winner, no longer looking at her like she was the opposition to confront.

“Thunder Glide, I apologize for my behavior earlier, and I’m sorry it took a literal kick to the head for me to see the error of my ways.” She extended her hoof. “Friends?”

Thunder raised her foreleg and bumped hooves with the now-humbled Wonderbolt.

“Professional colleagues for now. We’ll need to look into the regulations for enlisted members and officers fraternizing before we can be more than that.”

Spitfire laughed despite the throbbing in her head and ringing in her ears.

“Got me again there, Tin Can.”

Happy to see she still had a sense of humor, Thunder chuckled.

“Any time, Show Pony.”

Pleased with the outcome, Sniff addressed the audience.

“True professionals, everypony! Now, one last round of applause for these two, and we will be back shortly with our next two contenders! Free cupcakes and beer in the house!”

Before they could leave the arena and possibly get extremely hammered, Kelly approached the fighters.

"Luna said she would like to speak to both of you. But, um, Thunder, before you go, what do you know about that other guard? Oven's mother."

Thunder looked over her shoulder to see Cutter staring at them. A cold and intimidating look as she watched them, making Thunder quickly look away.

"Sergeant Major Cutter is probably the most ruthless of all the guards. She is also one that you should not fear. So long as you don't mess with her, the guards, any of the Princesses, or her family… Sniff might want to worry, though."

Kelly groaned and facepalmed.

"Goddamnit. If he gets stabbed, everyone is going to lose their shit... Is she going to be a problem? I'm honestly fucking scared."

Spitfire exchanged a confused look between the two.

"Is everything okay? Why are you getting so worked up over her?"

In a huff, Kelly turned away and headed back towards the others.

"Don't worry about it. None of this involves you."

As Kelly stormed off, limping, the two combatants followed behind at a distance far enough for Thunder to give some back story for Spitfire.

"Oven Fresh has been dating Sniff. They have an… unusual relationship. As for Kelly, if you haven't heard, she was attacked by Captain Spearhead and two others. She was stabbed in the chest and nearly bled to death. I was there when they arrived, and Spearhead was confronted."

Spitfire slowed her pace and took another look at Kelly, walking away with a slight gimp to her step.

"Wait, that was the human that was stabbed? How is she up and walking around? Everything we've heard was that they were weak, easily injured. That's why I didn't think Cerberus stood a chance against you, why everything you all said sounded so unbelievable."

Thunder motioned towards Cerb with her eyes.

"There is much you will have to learn, like everything he told me I needed to know to beat you tonight… and the reason so many are attracted to them."

Within the last few steps, they held their tongues, waiting to hear what the Princess had to say.

Thankfully, Luna had cooled off quite a bit. Given the music, impressive introductions, her guard winning, and greater concerns about Cutter, she couldn’t say much to the Wonderbolt who just got her world rocked.

"Spitfire, I must apologize. It appears that I am still underestimating Cerberus. It was unfair to have him assist in coaching Thunder Glide. I had assumed if they were to train together, this would be the best time to start."

Spitfire shrugged with a bit of a pained flinch, seemingly unphased by the results.

"Nah, sounds fair for how much I underestimated them. Kinda funny, actually." She turned to Thunder. "Soarin' told me you kicked me in the head. Did that Cerberus guy show you how to do that?"

Thunder gently shook her head, still feeling terrible about how she won.

"No… all he really told me was not to charge in headfirst, hold off on getting aggressive, and to assess what you were capable of. That and keep you angry so you would mess up. Pretty much everything he did against Onyx to make sure I could take you down without hurting you too much."

There was no way Spitfire heard that right, and she glared sharply at the last comment.

"And kicking me in the head was your solution to not hurting me?"

If Thunder were any more embarrassed, she likely would’ve turned as red as Big Mac.

"That was an accident. I thought you were going to duck."

Both Spitfire and Luna looked at her like it had to be an obvious lie. However, Thunder stuck to her story.

"I'm serious… The plan was to go make her duck with a high kick and wrap her up when I went over her head. Ask Cerb, he even… Cerb! Come here."

It took a few seconds, but Cerb pushed his way through to the accused and slightly panicking mare.

"Hey, good fight out there. That was—"

"What did I do wrong out there, Cerb?" Thunder quickly asked.

The question took Cerb by surprise, but if she wanted to talk about here and now…

"Well, first, you kicked her in the head. You weren't supposed to hit her, even though that follow-through was fucking clean. The choke out would have been a lot less painful."

Luna turned and gave an embarrassed smile to Cerb.

"Sorry, we assumed you told her… never mind."

Since that was cleared up, Thunder used this as an opportunity to build some bridges.

"Well, now that that’s over, Spitfire, I'd like to formally introduce you to Cerberus. AKA Cerb, AKA Justin Husk. Former United States Marine, which is like a soldier but… a lot scarier. He's also going to be my new trainer… is my new trainer."

Very curiously, if not cautiously, Spitfire extended her hoof.

"Spitfire. Nice to meet you, and sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't really know the whole deal with you and your friends, and I guess I still don't. Hopefully, we can fix that."

Cerb graciously welcomed her as he shook her hoof.

"It's nice to meet you, too and I certainly hope so. For now, let's get you a bag of ice and a cold drink. I got some friends that would love to meet you and your friends."

Meanwhile, Kelly was still sharing her concerns with Sniff.

"I don't like this Cutter bitch. She clearly has a problem with you, and probably us hooking up with ponies in general. Specifically, you fucking her daughter… you are, aren't you?"

On top of the attitude and volume from Kelly, Sniff wasn't welcoming the conversation.

"Drop it, Kel. I'm dealing with this the best I can. Much like I’m sure you are, not unless you want to open up about how many times you left Big Mac exhausted from all the pony rides you gave him.”

That only seemed to set Kelly off even more.

“Obviously, I haven’t changed as much as I would have liked to, just like you. The difference is that I love Mac, and I don’t want any other stallion. How many—”

Sniff raised his hand and poked his pointer finger in Kelly’s chest. Not hard, but with just enough emphasis to get her attention.

“Don’t… I’m happy for you. I’m not going to start mocking you for what you're doing when I know I’ve gone so much further in the deep end of things. Also, don’t worry about Oven’s mom. I’ve already talked to her.”

Kelly’s eyes went wide.

“Are you fucking insane?”

On a mission for getting some much-needed information, Sniff had been making a few stops around the party, asking around what they knew about Cutter. Swift Sails, Ralph, the Cakes, Mayor Mare, but there was one he absolutely had to speak to and ever so cautiously, he approached Cutter face to face.

“Mrs. Cutter, do you have a moment?”

Having hopped Sniff would have ran away somewhere safe by now, Cutter showed no love towards the troublesome human.

“You have some nerve, mister Peter James. What business do you have with me, or are you here to try and win over my approval and lay my concerns for my daughter’s well-being to rest?”

Already, it was clear this was going to be a challenge, even for Sniff. She even knew him by his full name. How much else she knew, he could only guess, but he could work with this.

“Princess Luna has tasked me with making sure you are properly introduced… but I’m not going to lie and say you have no reason to be concerned about Oven’s safety. She’s already put herself in harm's way, though from what she’s told me about you, I’m surprised to see you treat her like she’s incompetent and helpless.”

With a slight like that, Cutter again reached for her sword, giving little time for Sniff to work his angle. However, only a little time was still more than enough as he set the tone.

“Hordes of Timberwolves and the really big ones. She burned through them with such ease that even Twilight and Luna had trouble keeping up. I’m just wondering what horrors are out there that you know of that we don’t. What is it that has you so worried? ”

This was the first Cutter had heard of what feats of heroism her daughter had accomplished, and it was impressive. Although, the last implied question Sniff asked gave her pause.

“I will not have the faith I have in my daughter called into question. Your kind has brought nothing but trouble since you arrived. I cannot in good conscience leave her with invaders we know nothing about.”

She was going to be tough to crack, so Sniff had to test the boundaries.

“Why is it that you guards are so quick to think that just because you don’t know anything about us that your first instinct is to try and kill us? Celestia promised us that would never happen again, and yet here you are, ready to cut me open like Spearhead’s buddies did to Kelly.”

That question hit the pride Cutter held for her service that was disgraced by Spearhead, as well as the responsibilities she had as a mother. She had no choice but to pull her wing back from her sword.

“The actions of Iron Sparks under Spearhead’s leadership does not reflect what the Solar Guard stands for, nor the Lunar Guard. I will not cut you down unless I have reason to believe you pose a threat to Oven Fresh or any pony else.”

Through what she thought were carefully chosen words, the perfect opening was revealed for Sniff to exploit.

“So, your disapproval of me and your daughter being together has nothing to with your concern about her safety with me, then? You haven’t killed me yet, so clearly I’m not a threat, and we can move on to what I came here for, correct?”

Not giving her the time needed to respond, Sniff nodded and pulled out a pad of paper to take notes on.

“Luna will be glad to hear that we got this cleared up.”

Cutter clenched her teeth, further angered for having her words turned against her so easily. She could tell that his new creature was either far smarter than he looked or blissfully stupid enough to think he could get away with trying to manipulate her. And that was something she wouldn’t let stand.

“Very well, if you have questions, ask them. I’ll answer as best as I can, then you can please the princesses with the good news that you still breathe.”

Clearly, this mare wasn’t going to be easily sweet-talked. He would have to make things quick and avoid one of the other mares Oven Fresh and Twilight had sent his way to flirt with him. What mother wouldn’t strike him down if they knew the truth?

So, the questions began.

"Ovens is from Ponyville, are you as well?"

"No, Canterlot."

"What would you say you're most well known for?"

"My charming personality."

"..."

Clearly, this human wasn't accustomed to sarcasm, so she decided to humor him.

"I'm known for training the more proficient guards who have to take on more challenging roles where they're likely to clash with changelings or other hostile enemies. You seem to know Thunder Glide rather well, I personally trained her. Though she seems to have improved on her own quite a bit."

Sniff thought to not mention Cerb's involvement for the time being. Better to keep it all about her.

"Then I have you to thank for my friends making it back alive from the Everfree Forest as well. From what I saw, she was a great help in taking out the Timberwolves. Celestia must regret losing you to the Lunar Guard.”

Was that an honest compliment, or was he just trying to get on her good side? She was going to have to be careful not to let her guard down around this human.

“It’s my duty to ensure all the Solar and Lunar Guard have the skills they need to accomplish their missions and return safely. What else do you need to know to flatter me before I educate my daughter on making sensible choices regarding the company she keeps?”

She was actively resisting his kind words and needlessly getting aggressive. He still needed to lower her defenses while building her up to get anything out of her.

“Recent events have shown that there are dangers that may threaten the safety of Equestria’s residents and their allies. What would you say to the many ponies of Ponyville to calm their concerns, that there are those like you who are dedicated to their protection?”

Cutter cocked an eyebrow, genuine inquiry raising in her eyes.

“What kind of dangers?”

That at least gave some insight into the limits of her knowledge, but Sniff couldn’t hide the fact that he knew there were things he didn’t want to say. Still, even her strength of dedication to her duties could still keep her in check if he played his cards right.

“Out of respect for the wishes of Twilight and Luna, there are things I can’t say in this setting. You’ll have to ask them, but there are some things they won’t even tell me. The incidents with the Timberwolves is certainly one you’ll need to talk to them about.”

Cutter gave Sniff a questionable look but had no reason to believe he would lie about any of the princess’s wishes. That would be too easy to disprove and likely cause him nothing but problems if they found out he was using them for his personal advantage. Besides, all the better to take this opportunity to strike some fear into her daughter's love interest.

“I intend to. As for the residents of Ponyville, I would tell them that the Lunar Guard, just like the moon comes with the night, we always rise to the occasion. And we have no fear of making whatever sacrifices it may take to keep those we care about safe.”

Peter was smart enough to know a veiled threat when he heard one. There wasn’t anything else he could do or say at this point, so he accepted that Ovens would have to settle things with her mother first. Her continued hostility proved it.

“Alright, I suppose that’s all I need to know for now.”

Seeing Sniff turn away to leave, Cutter felt like she’d been cheated out of both a proper representation as well as the validation she needed to separate him from her daughter.

“That’s it? You're going to try and hype my entrance with that little bit of knowledge. You don’t know anything about me.”

Sniff turned back, taking a moment to see what she was really trying to get out of him. She wasn’t angry about the questions or him walking away. Her anger was over him not being scared away. There was no doubt he had her pegged.

“Between you and me, I’ve seen some of the worst examples of those who were complete and utter failures at being mothers. Careless, heartless, callous…”

That was the last insult she was going to take, and she reached for her sword but the initial shock had her hesitate. That small window of time he stole meant it wasn't fast enough to stop him from finishing his thought.

“—but you could have just said 'I love you' and offered her your help instead of pushing her away and hurting her.”

Again, she froze, and for the first time, behind those fiery eyes, even if for a moment, Sniff could see her fear.

“You know nothing about me, and I may not know much about you, except that your good intentions have done more harm than good. If you really cared about your daughter, you wouldn’t keep it a secret. Rethink why you're fighting her before you lose her.”

He flashed a glance just behind Cutter with only his eyes, but just as quickly returned them to her, doing everything he could to hold back a smile.

“And Swifty, thanks for having my back again. And don’t worry, I do know where my car keys are."

"Swifty?" Cutter said, suddenly realizing she was being watched.

She turned around to see Swift Sails posted right behind her, her halberd in a half-ready position, and an expression that said she wanted to take a swipe at the Lunar Guard.

"Shame… I was really hoping you’d lost them. But you, Sergeant Major, surrender your sword. That's the third time you reached for it. The only Lunar Guard permitted to be armed on these premises are those on duty, which you are not.”

Before Cutter could protest, Helix stepped out from the crowd to her side with a spell ready and waiting. Not alone, Onyx approached her from the other side, ready to flex his rank.

“Cutter,” Onyx called her to attention. “This is the human’s sovereign ground. Relinquish your weapon, or you’ll be joining Spearhead in the dungeon with just as many bandages.”

Seeing she was outranked, outnumbered, and frighteningly outclassed by the three Solar Guards, she begrudgingly reached back. She undid the straps, letting her belt and holster fall to the ground, intentionally aggravating Onyx enough to move unprofessionally close and give her one final warning.

“Act up again like this, and I’ll have you court-martialed. You got that? I’d drag you over to Luna for punishment right now, but I’m going to let Oven Fresh have a go at you first. And just so you know, if you lay a hoof on any of the humans, there isn’t a pony in the world that could stop them from tearing you apart… Now get yourself sorted before I take a very personal interest in your career and off-hour liberties.”

After asserting himself, Onyx didn’t even bother waiting for a reply. It wasn’t a suggestion; it was an order. At the very least, he could expect her to follow through with that.

In the meantime, though, the next event was going to start soon, and he wanted a good seat to watch his top pegasus duke it out with yet another uppity top brass. On sovereign soil, without orders, she didn’t even have positional authority over him. However, he couldn’t imagine what tricks Sniff had up his sleeves to approach Cutter like that and walk away as he did.

“Don’t mind her, Peter. You know how mothers can be when they meet a daughter's new coltfriend. Never good enough for mommy’s little girl. How about a drink? That beer is amazing. It’s like drinking liquid bread.”

Sniff groaned, knowing exactly why she was acting this way. She was busy at the time and didn’t know what he did.

“I wasn’t alone. Swifty, Onyx, and Helix were there. She wouldn’t have actually done anything, she just wanted to scare the big dark-skinned monster away from her little angel. I swear, it’s like dating a white chick with racist parents. She just…”

Suddenly distracted, Sniff noticed something that could lead to yet another problem back with the rest of the group.

“Hey Kel, have you kissed Big Mac in public yet?”

Kelly started to look for what Sniff was talking about.

“No, why the fuck would—”

In what little time had passed by with Spitfire and the two other Wonderbolts meeting the others after Kelly stepped away, Fleetfoot had wormed her way over to Big Mac. By the look of things, she must have pushed him just far enough away to flirt out of sight. If the others had been paying attention to their surroundings, they would have seen how super into him Fleetfoot was and how badly he wanted out of the situation.

For Kelly, fuck the fear she had earlier. Anypony that got in her way was going to Bad Bitch Kelly if they thought they could get between her and Big Mac.

“Ohhhhh, motherfucker. Sniff, I might be going to jail tonight.”

Sniff, easily catching up to Kelly and her limp, had to be the voice of reason.

“Kel, she doesn’t know. She just got here. I don’t even think half the guests know. Don’t start a fight over this. You're in no condition to… Goddamnit."

A short dash ahead, Fleetfoot was leaning hard against Big Mac, laughing up some story while ignoring his discomfort.

"-but then I walked with my head all bandaged up, and what do I find? A whole series of paintings of you. In the Summer-Wrap-Up and Hoedown Festival of places? So, I say to myself, this has got to be a sign."

By now, Kelly was fighting mad, and Sniff didn't have much time to defuse the situation. With only mere seconds to think before Kelly got into swinging distance, he resolved to do away with humility and air their business for the newcomers to hear.

"Yo, Mac!" Sniff shouted on approach. "Quick question for ya."

He immediately shot ahead and pried his way between Big Mac and Fleetfoot, who didn't move easily, but at least he drew the attention of the others.

"Now that you're dating Kelly and look pretty committed, is the common vernacular marefriend, girlfriend, or does special somepony pretty much covers everything?"

Big Mac looked to be relieved by Sniff's interference but then started sweating bullets as Kelly marched forward with her war face.

"Well, uh, marefriend usually is used, but somepon—"

His answer was cut short as Kelly reached her stud, raised both hands, grabbed him by the face, and pulled him in for an aggressive kiss. Lots of tongue, lots of moaning, zero fucks given as to what Fleetfoot thought about it, and getting Big Mac very into it.

Fleetfoot felt every hair on her body stand on end. This was the second time some mare got in her way. She was so close this time. Close enough that she was having a conversation with her long-estranged almost special somepony. Now she had Luna standing right next to her, holding her in place with her magic so she couldn't confront this human mare.

"Uh-oh."

Luna grinned and released her hold on the Wonderbolt, hoping that she wouldn’t need to warn this mare a second time not to start a fight over him.

"Kelly, my dear… if you have a moment, I'd like to introduce you to Fleetfoot. Fleetfoot, this is Kelly, a very, very, close friend of mine and the one who so perfectly captured Big Macintosh's heart."

Kelly pulled back from the kiss and smirked at Fleetfoot. However, since she wasn’t getting it, she was promptly slapped in the back of the head by Sniff, who cut through the bullshit.

"Fleetfoot, I would like to apologize for Kelly’s behavior. Obviously, you had a similar interest in Big Mac but weren't aware that Kelly was not in the sharing mood. They've been together for…"

"Since the night he saved my life, so about two weeks," Kelly clarified, before realizing how badly she overreacted.

Actually, judging by the look she was getting from Luna, she could see it wasn’t just Kelly’s friends who needed a good wack to get their communications received. Now, she’d have to be nice.

"And I'm sorry… I've been going through a lot lately. Getting stabbed, Timberwolves trying to kill my friends and Mac here… other scarier shit."

Luna rolled her eyes at the lack of decorum, even if it was effective.

"Yes, well, if we're all going to be blunt about it. Kelly and Big Macintosh are an item, and very protective of each other. Now, either be friends, or I'll throw you in the arena to settle your anger issues. Though I hope you chose friendship. I'd hate to be down two Wonderbolts. Spitfire's head injury is going to be trouble enough to explain."

Confused, Fleetfoot looked at the human with a limp. This thin and pale-looking creature was supposed to outclass a Wonderbolt? Were all humans uber-powerful, not just Cerb?

Thankfully Onyx was there to give a first-hand account.

"Don’t look all that tough do they? Don't feel bad, I thought the same thing. I'd say, however hard you think they can hit, multiply it by ten."

Even Cerb was taken aback by the estimated strength.

"Really? Damn… I'm glad I held back then."

Since being saved by Cerb, Onyx was a good enough sport now to laugh about it.

"Ha! You and me both. I've never been hit that hard. But seriously, Fleetfoot, overlooking how strong they are, you won't be pleasing any fans by taking them on."

Just then, after a quick stretch, Ovens piped up, sounding rather optimistic.

"Are we ready for my fight? I think my song will really set the pace."

All eyes went to Oven Fresh, the current conflict put on pause, then to Sniff, who was hesitant to explain himself.

"She saw the title and wanted it.”

Luna gave a nervous grin to the group. She knew Cutter well, and for both of them to be this angry at each other, even after this much time had passed, it had to happen. She only hoped both wouldn’t try to seriously hurt each other to seek their retribution of slights towards the other.

“Well, let us not keep Cutter waiting.”

Before Luna could make the official call, Becky finally gave a voice of reason.

“I can understand Spitfire and Thunder Glide going at, but shouldn’t Ovens and Cutter try talking things out first?”

Without giving it a second thought, Oven Fresh stepped up to reassert her desire to clash with her literal maker.

“I want this, and don’t think that I hate her. I’m just not going to let her dictate my life.”

After another glance around the group, Ovens could see that from the outside looking in, this had to look terrible. However, she turned to Sniff, knowing he would understand her.

“If you remember me telling you that my father and I had a falling out because I wanted to stay in Ponyville, she made it worse. She was bitter and cold to me for years. I had more arguments with her than my father over staying here. In fact, I owe Mayor Mare for saving my bakery from her."

Being called out, Mayor Mare turned away modestly, careful not to say too much about their financial history together.

"Oven Fresh was falling short on her payments and I just so happened to want some bread catered for an event."

Oven Fresh giggled at how the mayor oversimplified the story but could appreciate the kind words if not remembering the act itself.

"And enough bread to last you a fortnight. I knew you ordered far too much."

Mayor Mare smiled sweetly, not the least bit embarrassed at being called out.

"Well, I enjoyed some very hearty meals that fortnight. I simply couldn't risk losing our favorite bread bakery. The Cakes can only stretch themselves so thin. Besides, it was mostly the donations that put you back ahead of your payments.”

To that, Oven Fresh’s smile waned thin, remembering how everything she wanted seemed to come with a price to pay. Somehow, it always involved the same mare that stood in her way.

“I nearly lost my home, my business, my father, and if I had not put my hoof down to make her stop, I would have lost her, too. But if she thinks she can assert herself into my private life to take you away from me, then she forgot who the daughter she raised is and imagined a daughter she wished I was. I’m ready to fight her for what I want the only way she understands.”

There was still something so wrong about this, but Peter knew that Ovens needed closure. One way or another, she was going to get it, and he’d be there either to pick up the pieces or hold them together.

“Well, get ready, Ovens. I don’t think your mom’s going to be pulling any punches. And Benny, can you bring up that video with Oven Fresh kicking ass in the Everfree Forest so Starlight or Twilight can project it for her intro?”

Once again, with the mic in his hand and Vinyl ready with the music, the show was about to begin.

Vinyl was almost ready to start, but Sniff made an unexpected B-line to her and whispered something in her ear. She seemed confused at what he told her but shrugged and let him continue on to call out to the crowd while Thunder returned to the group from Cutter’s corner.

“Everypony gather ‘round! It’s time for hopefully the last fight of the night,” He proudly announced. “This rivalry has been brewing for years, and I’m sure if rumors travel around this small town like I think they do, you know where it all started.”

He nodded to Vinyl, and In This Moment - The Fighter started to play.

Against a song that didn’t seem fitting for a fight intro, Sniff began to introduce the next fighter who wanted no grand spectacle, but at least knew what to expect thanks to Thunder.

“She found the love of her life in Canterlot and followed him home to Ponyville, but continued to rise in the ranks of the Solar Guard. That was until our very own Princess Luna plucked her to keep watch over the night. You may know her as ruthless and just as quick to anger as she is to draw her sword.”

Without any flash or flare, the pegasus fighter slowly fluttered down to the arena, wearing a scowl that could peel a fresh coat of paint off the wall as Sniff called out her name.

“Fighter! Trainer! Mother!”

The music began to rise with vocals, but Sniff was drawing this intro out.

“The unseen protector! Sergeant! Major! Cirrostratus Cutterrrrrrrrrrrrrr!”

As she gave a few more stretches and took in the lyrics of her song. Somehow, the words only made her anger grow inside.

Seemingly making things worse, Sniff let the music go on a minute and forty seconds as if he was making some kind of point. Then, just as the chorus ended over a mix of boos and applause, the music faded out to New Years Day - Relentless. With the music growing louder, the video of Oven Fresh torching the hordes of Timberwolves projected over her corner.

"Her challenger! You know her as your hometown breadmaker! Born and raised here in Ponyville. She's cute and tough as nails, trained by Cutter herself. She fought to keep her home! Her bakery! And now she’s stepping up to prove once and for all that she’s in charge of the choices she makes!”

Oven Fresh stepped out into the arena, no longer wearing her cute outfit. To the praise and cheers of her town, she spat a stream of fire that arched up and formed the outline of a loaf of bread, the same as her cutie mark and the crowd went wild.

“Undoubtedly the crowd favorite for tonight! Oveeeeeeeen! Freeeeeeeeeesh!”

Sniff turned to his mare to wish her luck but had to catch her as she jumped up and latched herself around him.

In one last act of defiance, before the fight would start, Ovens had thrown herself on Sniff and started to passionately kiss him. Her heavy exhales and moans were loud enough to still make it over the mic behind her back. Each noise only seemed to excite the crowd even further.

Their kiss was only for a few seconds. She’d made her point and dropped down but took the mic in her magic hold before turning to the crowd.

“I’m dedicating this fight tonight to the most amazing stallion I’ve ever met and to all the sad, lonely mares out there who haven’t found those they want to share their life with. I’m winning this fight tonight to show you all that the life you thought you knew, what others try to hold you to, it doesn’t have to be that way!”

She turned to Cutter, ready to stand up for herself the same way she wished she had all those years ago.

“This is the last time you will ever try stronghoof me away from my dreams! And Ponyville! Don’t blink or you might miss me cutting Cutter down to size!”

As the crowd cheered again, Ovens threw the mic down to Cutter's hooves and motioned with a subtle jerk of her head to have Sniff leave the arena.

If the idea was that Ovens wanted Cutter to say her piece, she would oblige her daughter and pick up the mic.

“So… you’ve got it all figured out, don’t ya sweetie? Well, I’m glad you finally grew up enough to stand up for what you want instead of hiding away because you were too weak and too scared. Just like when you forced me and your father to leave you behind. And I can see why you earned your medal tonight. Thanks for letting me know that this is the life you’ve chosen. Not like mother ever worries about you.”

“Ooooooh!” The crowd erupted again, not expecting such a counter.

Cutter was confident she still had some friends to back her. Certainly, a few that knew her side better than her daughter did. Not that they were important, the mare she was talking to was.

“Fighting Timberwolf Kings might make you brave, but don’t forget who made you strong in the first place. And after this, me and that new human stallion of yours are going to have a nice long chat about you… or maybe I’ll cut it short.”

The mic she held was ripped out of her hold, lit up in Oven’s aura, and hurled towards the barrier, shattering upon impact. That was the last thing she would give her mother the chance to threaten her with.

“Get close to him ever again, and you’ll only have a whole new reason to worry!”

Things were getting amped up so quickly, Chris picked up his pace to enter the arena to explain the rules, only to be jerked back by Sniff pulling him away by the back of his shirt. He needed to let Chris know not to try and come between them.

“Don’t bother with the rules, they know what they’re doing. Pinkie! Ring the bell!”

From the announcer’s table, Pinkie raised her mallet, ready to start the fight and see what these two could do.

“Mother-Daughter Ultimate Pony Fighting Championship! Round one! Fight!”

Ding!

Cutter hunkered down into a ready stance but immediately found herself immobilized with a light-colored aura slightly blurring her vision. Clearly, this wasn’t the battle she expected as Ovens glared down, making one last thing clear.

“No matter what happens here tonight, I want you to know I won. I’ll always win, and you’ll never come between me and Peter. Whatever happens next, I’m going to let happen because I want to hurt you just like you hurt me.”

The telekinetic hold on Cutter was released, and her intentions shifted slightly.

“You want me to hurt like you? I didn’t raise you to be blind or stupid, Ovens. You swung first.”

The two began to circle each other as Vinyl thought to make things interesting and started to add some music to fit the mood.

From her brief review of the music Sniff had left her with, she decided A Perfect Circle - Counting Bodies Like Sheep To The Rhythm Of The War Drums was best suited for the standoff as Oven Fresh continued their spat.

“I swung first? For as long as I can remember, father said I would run my own bakery and take over the family business. Then out of nowhere, you tell me we’re leaving and I was going to help start a new business? Neither of you ever asked me what if I even wanted to move!”

She charged in with a left jab and right then left combo that Cutter dodged.

“Why would we ask?! You were thirteen and had never lived by yourself! You weren’t ready to be on your own! We were still raising you to be ready to take on the family business!”

Cutter moved in and reared up with a left hook that Oven Fresh ducked under, then a rising kick that was caught and countered with a leg sweep. The loss of balance caught Cutter by surprise, and she had to flap her wings hard to keep from tripping completely.

With the extra momentum, she pulled her leg free and backflipped back to a ready stance.

“You never think things through! Why do you think I trained you like this?! You never bothered to learn how to run a business! You were too busy in the kitchen!”

She rushed in again with her wings lifting her off the ground. She swooped down low to the ground, arched up with a strong flap of her wings, channeling enough force to lift Oven Fresh off her hooves in the gust of wind.

Ready to take on her daughter in the air, she corrected her course but had to bank hard to avoid a torrent of flames. She rolled into her new flight path and continued up.

Oven Fresh flew up higher with her flames, buying her time to figure out her next move, but struck the upper corner of the barrier with a thud. As she started to fall, she could see Cutter flying up to her. Not wanting to be at a disadvantage in midair or risk a crash landing by focusing on another magic attack, she kicked off from the barrier at the last second and tackled her mother out of the air.

They both tumbled through the air, exchanging short jabs until they hit the dirt and tumbled away from each other.

As they rose to all fours, the music changed to The Dirty Youth - Fight The Dirty Youth - Fight, and Oven took the recovery time to verbally defend herself.

“I had to stay in the kitchen. Dad said I couldn’t run the counter without you there, and when you were there, but there were no customers, you pulled me away to train! I never had the chance to learn! IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!”

Cutter rose up faster and ran in to reengage.

“We were struggling to make ends meet!”

She delivered a roundhouse kick that Oven again caught, but this time twisted and threw her towards the other side of the arena. She recovered and flew back in.

“I had to fly in to work every day and back home every night! I trained you so you could work with me, and we could afford to keep the bakery open!"

Cutter swooped in with a series of kicks Ovens struggled to block. She dropped back to the ground and backed off.

"I was doing the only thing I knew how to do to help you get ready to be on your own! That's the only time I had with you! I had to make it count!"

Not giving an inch, Oven started to circle again.

"I didn't want to fight! I hated you being a guard. You were never home! And even when you were gone, you sent your friends to train me! You never wanted me to take over the bakery! You wanted me to follow in your hoofsteps! Not dads! Why couldn’t you—!”

She stepped in with a Superman punch that blasted through Cutter’s block and cracked her in the lips.

“—just be my mother for once!”

She dove in to pin her mother down but caught a kick to the side of her ribs that sent her far off course and tumbling. She scrambled to her hooves and blocked a left hook but was struck by an uppercut to the chest.

She used the upward momentum to swing a kick. Her leg missed, but as she continued back, she spun herself into a sidekick that caught Cutter in the wing joint.

The kick pushed both of them apart and they returned to a ready stance, but neither moved in right away. Those few seconds had delivered some serious blows and they were both hurting from the exchange.

Cutter stood but had to favor her right side from her left wing and shoulder quivering in pain. Ovens, likewise, held a hoof to her chest and seemed to have a hard time catching a full breath of air.

Now grounded, for the time being, Cutter tried to work out the stiffness left from the blow and paced around Oven Fresh.

“You made it so hard to be kind or patient. You were, and still are, just as stubborn and impatient as I am. I had to be stern and tough to keep you from running back to the kitchen. I sent my friends to keep you practicing because I knew the bakery wasn’t going to make it. That’s why I took that promotion in the first place. Ponyville was too small for two bakeries, and you should thank your lucky stars Luna offered me a position as her Senior Enlisted.”

That was just enough time for Oven Fresh to recover and speak clearly.

“After you couldn’t buy the bakery out from under me, you have no idea how happy I was to know how busy that job kept you. It finally kept you too busy to come back and keep bothering me.”

She started to circle again, matching angry glares as she anticipated her next move.

“Once you were too busy to keep harassing me, it was finally my business! THAT I MADE HAPPEN WITHOUT YOUR HELP! I was happy and stable enough to see Dad while you were away to make amends! I didn’t tear our family apart! YOU DID!”

Now visibly furious to a frightening degree, Cutter snapped at Ovens as the first bell rang.

“YOU’D BE NOWHERE AND NOTHING WITHOUT ME!”

The two charged in at each other.

Ding!

They didn’t stop.

Ding-Ding-Ding!

They both reared up, ready to strike, but were held in place by a blue and violet aura as the magic barriers were placed between them.

Outside the ring, Twilight stood next to Luna as they both held the two fighters captive. Her worry for their safety now exceeded their rivalry. Despite his insistence the two continue, she asked again the question Sniff had turned down.

“Why don’t you want us to stop their fight? They’re going to seriously hurt each other.”

Sniff stood up and started towards Oven Fresh’s corner, still sticking to his guns.

“I’ve seen this before. They need to hurt each other before they can talk it out. Just ask Cerb and Lumberman.”

Twilight levitated Oven Fresh to her corner before releasing her to look at Cerb.

“I’m a little scared to ask.”

Cerb looked to Lumberman, then back to the arena.

“I’m pretty sure Sniff’s talking about how me and Lumberman had to fight each other before we were calm enough to be civil. But, I think Sniff knows something we don’t. He wouldn’t let Oven Fresh get hurt like this unless it was going to help her.”

The fight had gotten much more intense than Luna could have thought, and she turned to Chris, hoping for some insight.

“Chris, you seem to know the most about us. Might you have some clue as to what happened between them that would make Peter think they need to fight?”

Unfortunately, this was beyond Chris.

“I have no clue. I’ve never seen either of them in the show, so I don’t have any backstory. Maybe this was supposed to be shown in a later season or something?”

The barrier opened up, and Sniff escorted Becky in, quickly moving in to comfort his mare.

“Hey, you’re doing great out there, hun. Becky is going to look you over real quick. Does it hurt anywhere?”

Ovens grunted angrily, wanting to get back to the fight despite the numerous bruises forming across her body.

“I’m fine, she could have hurt me a few times if she wanted. She isn’t taking me seriously, but I’m about to change that. This has been a long time coming... I can’t believe her.”

Sniff put his hands on her shoulders from behind and kissed her cheek.

“It’s okay. We’ll get this all worked out.”

Becky did a quick once over on Oven Fresh, but nothing looked serious, and she turned back to the group.

“Chris! Come over here!”

She took a step towards Cutter’s corner but then turned to block Sniff and gave him a cautious look.

“I don’t know what’s all going on with this feud, but I don’t want you anywhere near her. I’ll take Chris with me.”

As Chris entered the arena, he gave a nod to Sniff and led the way for Becky. That left Sniff time to help Oven Fresh get ready again.

“Alright, Ovens. I know you two got it out for each other, but I want you to put it all out there without really hurting her. When this is all over, the three of us will have a chat about the two of us and get everything else worked out. She’s not going to scare me away from you.”

Ovens sniffed hard, her emotions catching up to her in this short break.

“Thank you for standing by me, Peter. She would have scared any other Stallion away-” She sniffed hard again. “-but not you.”

He massaged her shoulders, trying to keep her loose, but still had his reservations.

“Just do me a favor and don’t seriously hurt her. You already got your point across, and if we’re going to stay together, we seriously need to talk to her after this.”

After coming this far, Ovens wasn’t about to let up on her mother or be talked out of it.

“Peter, I’m not—”

Her words were cut short by Sniff turning her face to his and gave her a loving kiss on the lips. It was short and sweet, only wanting to remind her what she was fighting to keep.

“I’m not asking you to lose, but please, do it for me. I’ll treat ya to something extra nice if you can.”

Returning from the other side of the arena, Becky led the way back with Chris, though her expression was a mix of worry and frustration.

“Your bitch of a mother is fine. If she’s hurting, she wouldn’t fucking tell me. Nothing besides her wing is fine.”

Starlight noticed that through the entire fight, Trixie hadn't taken her eyes off of Oven Fresh.

“Hey, Trixie? Are you okay? Do you know Ovens by any chance? Is that why you’ve been staring at her?”

Trixie was slow to respond and stumbled with her words as she came out of deep thought.

“Wha-uh-I-nu… Sorry… I could have sworn I’d seen those flames before.”

She knew she’d seen the way those flames moved at least once, but it didn’t make any sense. Then again, not much of her dreams did. However, she didn’t want to talk about it at the moment and changed the subject.

“Never mind that, has Chris said anything about me? Like wanting to hit me or… if he’s attracted to me?”

Starlight raised an eyebrow at the two extremes.

“Hit you? Why would he… and what do you mean if he thought you were attractive? Do you have a crush on him? Because he’s already taken.”

Trixie gave Starlight a questionable look, then the rest of the harem, then Starlight again.

“Wait… so…”

Starlight smiled a cocky smile.

“Yes, Trixie, me and Chris are together. And since you and I are friends, I’ll come clean and tell you that the rest of the girls here with me are as well. I know that sounds weird, and you probably think I’m crazy for—”

“No!” She shouted a little too loudly and had to cover her mouth. “I mean, not at all. I’m happy for you. You… I mean, a human. Wow… who knew? He must… I just hope nopony tries to come between you two just because he’s not a pony.”

Starlight smiled but was certainly confused by the sudden outcry of acceptance.

“Well, thank you. I thought for sure you would've freaked out over something like that.” Her mind started to wander to some inappropriate thoughts. “But you know, if you're interested, I could always talk to the girls and maybe-”

Trixie immediately put a hoof to Starlight’s lips.

“No, thanks. If everything’s over like I’ve been told, I don’t need to get any more involved than I already am.”

Prim snickered, happy to hear another pony wasn’t being considered to join them.

“More for us then.”

By then, the three humans had exited the arena, and the barrier was closed off. Now that the fighters were cleared, Chris pointed to Pinkie who rang the bell.

Ding!

Both fighters walked out from their corners, returning to circle each other as Cutter started up a new conversation.

“So, as the caring and loving mother that I am, I need to know. What kind of mind games did that human play to trick you into wanting to be with him?”

“Mind games?” Ovens mocked the question. “As much as I hate to feed your lack of faith in my abilities. Just like everything else I have, I had to work for it. I seduced him, not the other way around.”

Cutter glared harder, trying to show she was serious.

“That human is smarter than he looks. He’s a manipulator and has no doubt twisted your weaknesses to make you fall for him. He can’t be so sincere to think he can fix this better than I can.”

Ovens grinned, not falling for her mother’s persuasion, and likely knew why she thought that.

“Oh, let me guess? He saw right through you, didn’t he? Yeah, he’s very good at that, and he did see through me, but he didn’t manipulate me into falling for him. Unlike you, when he saw my weaknesses, he confronted me about them because he didn’t want me to get hurt. You though… I don’t know why Peter asked me not to hurt you, or why he wants us to talk after this. I want you out of my life.”

Cutter doubled down on her anger, certain about Sniff’s maleficent intentions. He was pitting her against her own daughter, egging them both on, trying to drive them apart, forcing them to drag this out.

“Sweetie, this time, I’ll educate you after I save you from yourself.”

Ovens hunkered down, ready to pounce.

“If you want to beat me, you better stop pulling your punches. That’s the one courtesy I’m not giving you this round.”

Cutter took a half step back, repeating that in her mind to make sure she heard it correctly.

“You were pulling your punches because you thought I was pulling mine?”

Ovens shifted slightly, finding her opening.

“That’s the one thing Peter got wrong about this fight. He said you wouldn’t. You’re still underestimating me!”

Before Ovens could close the distance, Cutter knew something wasn't right with this. The difference in strength between them made Cutter’s motherly instincts switch into overdrive.

“Whatever he’s done to you, baby girl, I’ll make him pay!”

That was it, no more holding back. Ovens funneled the magic in her horn and let it dissipate.

“I love what he did to me, and he’s going to do it all over again tonight.”

Ovens bolted forward, spitting stream flames from Cutter's right, making her jump out of its path. As soon as she jumped, Ovens teleported out of view, leaving the stream of flames began to burn out. Cutter searched for where her daughter would reappear, the answer flashed in on the other side of the fading flames, and Ovens leaped through with a left hook to the Cutter’s jaw.

The world went white, and a pain emanated from her teeth down every muscle in Cutter’s neck as her head snapped to the side. It was like she was hit by a minotaur. How could a unicorn punch that hard?

“I blacked out,” She thought to herself in the third tumble she was conscious enough to realize and moved to catch herself.

She spun just enough to come back to all fours and saw Ovens charging in again. Her vision was double and a little blurry, but she could compensate, and just out of instinct, she swung a broadcast kick from mid-height to down low for a leg sweep.

Ovens saw the kick and jumped over to avoid it. She remembered that move; it was a tactic to buy time and stop an aggressor. It was clear that she had her mother on the ropes, or so she thought.

She landed and spun around to see her mother charging in, hoping to catch her off guard, which she almost did. Such a fast recovery wasn’t expected and an off-center jab to the face nearly connected, likely due to a loss of coordination or vision. Another jab from the right, easily blocked, then a left swing that she caught and countered with an elbow to the solar plexus.

Cutter, feeling the elbow smash against her, could hear her bones crack. They weren’t broken, but likely one or two popped out of alignment, though the pain would have said otherwise. That didn’t matter, though, and she pushed through the pain to deliver a left kick to Oven Fresh’s side.

The kick caused a gasp for air, leaving only a momentary opening, and Cutter poured all her strength into her best right cross.

CRACK!

From the announcer box, Pinkie shouted her commentary over the silent crowd.

“Holy ass balls! That was one mean punch! I don’t think any pony could…”

The crowd gasped as Ovens stopped stumbling after nearly hitting the barrier. Madder than ever, she returned to a ready stance, rubbing her cheek and huffing angrily.

“Still pulling your punches? Fine… if you don't want to take this seriously, I’ll end it quickly.”

Pinkie was floored at the sight as the crowd went wild.

“Well fuck me! Oven Fresh took that punch like a champ! She’s still in the fight!”

Inside the arena, Cutter felt her hoof throb. She might as well have punched a tree. As much as she hated doing it, she had tried to end the fight by knockout. It might have been a bit excessive, but it ended up hurting her more than it did Ovens, by the looks of it. Now she was down to one wing, three legs, only one eye that wasn’t blurry… She was going to lose.

Before she could yield or make Chris notice she was unfit to fight, Ovens channeled magic back into her horn and uttered one word.

“Accelero.”

It wasn’t just a word, that was the name of a complicated spell Cutter requested one of the older Solar Guards to teach her daughter.

At full strength, Cutter could toughen up to outlast the spell’s limited duration. In this state, she was defenseless. She had to call off the fight fast or this was going to end badly, but could only get as far as starting to rear up to protect herself and opening her mouth before the first hit struck.

An uppercut to the chest launched her off her hooves and knocked the wind out of her lungs. What followed was a barrage of impacts of hooves running up her stomach and over her chest until one last punch struck her left jaw, and her vision went white again.

Three seconds... That’s all Accelero was good for in the hands of a novice. Ovens had lasted five so far.

Cutter, losing sense of time and her spatial awareness, felt the weight of the world vanish as pain took its place. In that moment of weightless pain in her world of white, she had a thought. Maybe that human was right and she should have talked things out, but it was too late for that.

The Accelero spell had done its job, and Ovens ended it. Falling out of the speed spell in mid-air, she somersault-kicked down on Cutter’s shoulder, slamming the batter mare into the ground.

Ovens fell with the kick, rolled back to the ready, and stood over her mother with her hoof raised, ready to strike down.

Ding-Ding-Ding-Ding!

The bell rang, and Ovens noticed her mother frantically, yet weakly tapping her hoof.

She won. It was over. Her freedom was hers again.

Outside the ring, Sniff waved to Chris in a panic. While the fight was over, it didn’t end the way he wanted it to, which made the crowd and his friends cheering harder to deal with, but he could fix this.

“It’s over! Pull’em apart! Becky, come on, we need to stand her up.”

With the barrier dropped, Chris rushed inside and moved Ovens away from the defeated pegasus. To him, it looked as if she was waiting for the okay to continue the pummeling.

“Hold up, it’s over, you won. Stand back a bit.”

Overs couldn’t believe how relieved she was. She had done it. The thinly veiled peace between her mother and her had been revealed for what it was. Now that her mother knew how strong she was, she no longer had to fake a smile. Even better, she no longer had to worry about Sniff’s safety around her mother or trying to come between them. He was even running over to celebrate with her.

“Peter!” She called out to him, ready to celebrate.

Sniff stopped short of making his way over to her and instead stopped at her mother’s side with Becky.

Why was he talking to her? Why was Luna walking over behind them?

Out of earshot, due to the crowd, Sniff knelt down to speak as privately as possible to Cutter.

“Hey, are you able to move? Are you okay?”

Cutter groaned, already plotting her return to rid this monster from her daughter’s life.

“Get away from me. Let my daughter go. I don’t know what kind of spell you have her under, but I will get her back.”

Luna leaned in, confused but now angry at the accusation.

“A spell? How disappointing… You truly do have no faith in your daughter.”

Those words cut deep, adding insult to injury, but Luna would not let that sway her.

“Cutter, humans have no magic conjuring abilities and are virtually magic resistant. Your daughter, like so many others, has fallen for Peter as they have the others because they are kind-hearted and… well, there are other reasons. Why would you not at least consult with me if you were this concerned.”

Sniff sighed, feeling like this was now primarily his fault, which it was.

“Because she thinks she has to be the one to save Oven Fresh… but she’s too fucking stubborn to openly admit how much she cares. I’m guessing because you want her to be just as tough as you are, right, Cutter?”

Cutter tried to look away as she blushed but ended up groaning in pain from moving too quickly.

Proven right, Sniff facepalmed.

“Goddamnit, I hate these paper-thin plot points. Cutter... I know it hurts, but just stand up so I can announce the winner. Then we’re going to have a sit-down and straighten this shit out. And it’s not up for debate.”

Removing his head from his hand, he addressed the others respectively.

“Becky, can you get a spot cleared for us in one of the bath tents so we can get these two checked out? And Luna, can you meet us in there, though make sure to bring Twilight, Nurse Redheart, Misses Cake, Ralph, and Mayor Mare. I’ll explain while we’re in there. And yes, Sergeant Major, like it or not, you’re going.”

Cutter grumbled angrily and groaned as she forced herself back up to all fours while the others moved out to oblige Sniff’s wishes.

Meanwhile, Sniff made his way over to an anxious Oven Fresh. Scratch that, a worried and nervous Oven Fresh.

“Peter, what’s going on? Are you mad at me? Did I hurt her too badly?”

Sniff gave her a wink before turning to the crowd and was handed a new mic from Pinkie.

“Don’t worry about it. Everything’s going to be fine.”

He put on his best showman’s face and raised the mic.

“Ladies and gentlecolts! Now, was that a match-up or what?!”

The crowd, of course, cheered their approval.

“Okay, this was not only the longest fight I’ve seen here but was by far the best display of passion and skill. Unfortunately, we’ll be getting their reactions to the fight after they get looked at by our medical team. In the meantime, the winner of the main event, by technical knockout!” He raised the clear winner of the fight. “Oveeeeeeeen! Freeeeeeeeeesh!”

The crowd cheered as Sniff raised her hoof high for all to see and then pulled her in for a victory kiss. Not deep or obscene, as she had given him earlier, but tasteful and appropriate. Of course, the crowd cheered even louder.

After he ended the kiss, far sooner than Oven Fresh would have wanted, they both turned and slowly followed behind the limping loser of the fight. For sure, Cutter was in poor shape.

Unfortunately, the thrills and excitement were not yet over as a lone Earth pony mare ran into the center of the arena and took a strong stance.

The mare had a teal green colored coat and a light teal colored mane with a tail with a much lighter stripe running through each. Through her sea-blue eyes, she surveyed the masses that had yet to disperse.

This mare, easily spotted with her cutie mark of a pink teacup with a darker pink heart centered on it, sitting on a saucer with hearts floating out with its steam, was Tealove. She breathed angrily as she stared daggers at Kelly before calling out to the crowd.

“If this is a place to fight for what we want and to settle rivalries as we celebrate our passions, I challenge the human, Kelly!”

Luna looked back at the area and instantly regretted her earlier choice of words.

“Oh, goddamnit, not this again.”

Mayor Mare didn’t have to see who it was. Even if the voice didn’t give it away, the target certainly did, which made her sigh deeply and down her drink.

“It’s the Summer Wrap-Up Festival and Hoedown all over again.”

It had been too long, and Tealove didn’t want to wait any longer and made her proclamation.

“There’s no use denying it. Everypony saw it. Not long ago, at the Summer Wrap-Up Festival and Hoedown, Big Mac and I found each other, and it was love at first sight. Had it not been for Fleetfoot interfering, we’d have been happily married with a home full of foals!”

Cerb, figuring this mare was off her rocker, couldn’t resist and whispered something to Fleetfoot. It was just two words, but she figured she understood the meaning enough to attach to what she was thinking.

“That’s not how it happened at all, you crazy bitch!”

That spawned some inappropriate laughter from the small group who had some context to the word, which was only made funnier as Oven Fresh put Sniff’s lesson on human phrases to use.

“She’s still going on about that? Wow, that mare must have one sandy vagina to still be this mad.”

After controlling her laughter, the anger came back and Luna started to march her way back to the arena. If she had to shut this crazy mare down a second time, she was going to make sure there would be no third. Instead, she was stopped by Kelly, who could no longer be held back by Onyx and Thunder.

“Oh, no, Luna. Sniff was right about Fleetfoot. She didn’t know, but this bitch? Hell, no. I’m putting a stop to this shit right the fuck now.”

Luna could feel the rage emanating from Kelly. Her demanding presence was powerful… frightening… sexy…

“This is technically your sovereign land,” She bashfully answered. “Just… don’t get too rough.”

Kelly forced a smile, but it was a smile that told how happy she was to finally be able to show the town that nopony was going to fuck with her stud.

As she turned to the arena, she dropped the smile, swiped a bottle of vodka from Top Shelf, and started to chug. After a few shots were downed, she tossed the bottle to Fleetfoot and made her orders loud and clear.

“Vinyl! Play me an intro song! Sniff! Don’t bother announcing us! Pinkie! Ring that fucking bell!”

Pinkie dashed back to her announcer’s table just as Vinyl picked at random started to play Fit For Rivals - Damage, figuring that just what Kelly was about to create.

“You got it, sister! Fuck her up!” Pinkie shouted, loving how these new human words worked, and rang the bell.

Ding!

Even Vinyl got into the excitement, digging the heavy tunes and appreciating the no-nonsense style.

“Buck, yeah, Kelly! Mess that crazy bitch up!”

The barrier went back up as soon as Kelly entered the arena, and Chris made it official.

“Fight!”

Foolishly, Tealove stood her ground and made the biggest mistake she could freely give away.

“I know you got hurt a while ago by the guards, and even hurt yourself trying to fight Cerberus, so I’ll let you get one free shot before I—”

SLAP!

Kelly delivered the meanest set of five fingers the crazed mare’s face with an echo that surpassed Cutter’s punch to Oven Fresh.

What followed was priceless.

“Ahhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhggggg! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Tealove screamed in agony like a crying foal and dog howling.

“I’m sorry! Ahhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhggggg! I give! Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Stop the fight! Ahhhhhhhhhgggggg!”

While Tealove continued to roll around in the torn-up and charred grass, Kelly turned her attention to the crowd, which was a mix of laughs, snickers, and baffled onlookers. She raised her right hand, a little red on the palm and a bruise on her knuckles for all to see, while the chorus seemed to match the result of the fight.

“Any other crazy bitches wanna step up?”

From behind, Kelly felt a hoof slide up along the back of her wrist, then the familiar grip of a fetlock wrapped around it. She thought Big Mac had come to announce her as the winner, but there was a flapping of wings fanning her. She looked up to see Fleetfoot raising her hand and a mic in her other fetlock.

“Winner! By technical slap down! Kelly!”

Kelly looked up to a Wonderbolt with a goofy grin, surprised this wasn’t already a fight between the two of them.

“You don’t wanna try your luck?”

Fleetfoot laughed and dropped down to all fours.

“Nah, Big Mac already made his choice. I can live with that.”

Kelly laughed and started to walk back to the group with her new friend.

“You know what, I think I like you. You wanna hang with us for the rest of the party?”

Fleetfoot added some extra pep in her step.

“Yeah, I can hang… but what’s up with your friends having more than one special somepony?”

Kelly just shook her head.

"Crazy, right? Wait? You're not asking so you can join, are you? "

Fleetfoot laughed, albeit a bit nervously.

"Not if I'm going to get slapped like that."

Still rolling on the ground, Tealove was getting no help.

"Ahhhhhhhhhggggg! It stings so bad! Ahhhhhhhhhggggg!"

Having seen that mare act up like this before, Rainbow shouted from the group, happy to see her finally getting what she deserved.

"Serves you right, you crazy bitch!"

Well, well, well. Oven and Cutter certainly came at each other strong, but Little Ovens wasn't backing down. At the same time, Trixie, Luna, and Twilight all pretty much said "Fuck it" for dealing with the humans and wanted to kick back to watch the fights.

Speaking of fights... I feel bad letting the fight between Spitfire and Thunder Glide ended so quickly after such bomb ass introductions. They even came with music! Still... should have figured Thunder had this one in the bag.

Then came the fight between Oven and Cutter... That... was a fight. Those two had a lot of issues to work out and a lot of anger to express. But, much like most family drama, there are two sides to a story. From their sides, you can draw your own conclusion.

Somehow, Sniff already did.

Then, not sure how any of you thought this fight was going to end, but Cutter just couldn't bring it hard enough to take down Ovens. Though, from the outside looking in, you have to sympathize with Cutter. From the outside looking in, hearing all the rumors about humans, the now-disgraced guards, Timberwolves... She had every reason to be concerned.