Clare, heavens training area:

“I can’t do it… the only reason I was able to become that powerful was because Twilight enchanted me with magic” I informed the elderly angel. He was funny looking, not at all what angels were described as looking like. He had pointy ears like an elf with pure white hair and no halo ring above his head, indicating that he was actually not dead and was a living soul like some of the other angels.

“You can and you will, now go again” he ordered. I rolled my eyes and let out an exhausted exhale as I widened my stance. I tried to remember how I did it when fighting Solar Eclipse.

I clenched my fists and tensed my muscles. I tried to imagine the most angering thing but still was unable to fuel my anger enough to ascend.

“Hurry up… that soap opera is on soon and I don’t want to miss it” said the elderly angel. He was so perverted that I didn’t actually know how he was an angel. “Well I can’t. I’m not some spell casting mage that can mystically amplify my own power” I said in an exhausted tone. We, more like I, had been training for forty hours straight.

First I was simply fighting holograms but then he tried to make me power up like I had against Solar Eclipse. I kept trying to convince him that I wasn’t able to do it but he wouldn’t believe me.

“Such a failure… and explain to me why is it exactly that the night princess herself was interested in you? You’re a failure to her and yourself” he said in an insulting tone. The comment fueled my rage as I remembered Luna’s saddened face. How I had failed her.

I let out a roar as my muscles all tensed and I felt veins bulge from my muscles then a powerful blue aurora surrounded my body. Cloud dust was blown out from under my feet.

“See, that’s the spirit” said the elder. I realized at that moment that I had just done exactly what I said I couldn’t do. But this made no sense, how exactly could I do this. No other humans had ever been able to simply change the colour of their hair and muscle size just out of pure spite.

“How… How…” I trailed off and he chuckled. “You younglings… can never see the picture until it’s literally right in front of your eyes. Now if you would please follow me, I have a contest that I need to win” he told me as we walked away from the cloud training area.

“Elder… how is this possible?” I asked and he simply laughed in his squeaky voice. “You humans possess incredible powers yet you can only unlock them with the proper use of training” he informed me as we walked up to a small kiosk.

“I want 500000 on this guy” Elder, that’s what I called him, told the spirit at the kiosk. “Is he registered?” asked the kiosk attendant. ‘Gambling? Is that legal in heaven?’ I asked myself.

“Well of course he’s registered” Elder replied then handed him an envelope and the kiosk attendant checked it in. “You’re number ten” the kiosk attendant informed me. “Number ten? Number ten for what?” I asked and he gave me a suspicious look.

Elder pulled me along quickly. “Hurry or we’ll be late for the first match” Elder said and dragged me to some stadium that looked like something from ancient Greek mythology. “Elder, what exactly did you get me into?” I asked and he chuckled. “Well my dear boy, you are going to win me millions” he said and I raised an eyebrow as we entered the stadium prep room.

“Gambling… isn’t it illegal in heaven?” I asked curiously and he shook his head. “Only compulsive gambling is illegal. This is sports wagers. It’s different. Alright listen, the rules are simple. Hand to hand, no hitting below the belt, no hitting while the other spirit is down and once you’re knocked out than you’re out” he informed me.

“What is this? Gladiator?” I asked and he looked both ways as he tried to think of something. “No… it’s a very special event held every thousand years. I felt your power when you fought with Solar Eclipse and I knew that you’d be the one to finally win something for me” Elder told me and I raised an eyebrow just as my aurora faded away. I felt my strength and power fade as well.

“HEY! Change back, hurry the event is almost starting” he ordered and I gave him an apologetic look. “I uhm… I don’t know how” I replied and he became frantic. “Well… you’re a disgrace and all that stuff I said earlier to make you transform. Now change back” he said frantically but I didn’t really get any sort of anger off his comments.

“Oh well this is just great… I just blew half a million on a human that can’t even transform” he bickered to himself. “Well if it’s a human you wanted why not just go get another one?” I asked curiously and he simply sighed in regret. “Because humans don’t usually go putting everything they have on the line to save the world, and when they do get the gift of their mortal form they don’t ever want to continue fighting for eternity” he informed me.

“Well come along, the first match is about to begin” he told me and led me out to a watch post. There was a huge arena with two fighters in the middle. One was some freaky looking alien thing with giant horns, its skin was red and it had no hair whatsoever.

The other fighter was dressed in heavy white robes that covered its entire body. I couldn’t even see an inch of its actual body. I leaned over to Elder. “So what is this exactly?” I whispered and he leaned towards me.

“The first match. There are ten fighters and this is the elimination round. After that then they pair up the best fighters with the worst to eliminate the worst of the fighters then there is the finale match where the two best fighters have a final duel” he informed me. I nodded.

The creature in the heavy robes flew forwards at an incredible speed and slammed the alien in the gut. The alien wheezed and flew back. When the alien crashed into the ground it didn’t get up.

“Incredible… that was just incredible” I muttered. “Of course it was. Jonas was the champion of last millennia’s championship. You’ll most likely have to fight him in the final match” he informed me. I watched the other matches but none seemed to catch my particular attention as much as Jonas’ match had.

“Nine and ten” called out an announcer over the radio system in the stadium. Elder gave me a nudge and motioned for me to go down to the stadium.

Luckily I had learned how to fly with Elder’s help so I just flew down to the stadium. I looked around to the crowd. Giant lights illuminated the stadium battlefield. Suddenly a twenty foot creature slammed down a few yards away from me.

“Now we have a human from the lands of Earth and Equestria fighting the powerful JUGGERNAUT! Juggernaut was last millennia’s runner-up before being knocked out by Jonas. Boy do I feel bad for that little human” the announcer yelled out over the radios. I looked up in awe at this giant creature that now stood before me.

It was a dark yellow colour with large demon-like horns. Its eyes flashed red and it had a large tail with spikes on the end. I let out a deep exhale as the creature brought its arms up in the air and made a fist with both hands. The crowd went wild, cheers echoed the stadium.

It looked back down to me. “I need a good warm up so try not to go getting knocked out from my first hit” he laughed as he swung his colossal hand towards me. I lept back and flew through the air, dodging his rather slow punch.

He growled then tried to throw another punch that missed terribly. He was slow but I bet that his punches would knock me out cold with one hit.

I flew forwards and slammed my most powerful punch into his forehead. My punch just bounced off his head harmlessly, my fist felt like it just hit a brick wall. Damn he was tough. I was judging that he was a male due to the tone of his voice, if it was a female than I’d hate to see that species male.

The creature laughed hideously then tried to swing at me again but I flew downwards and missed his swing. “There’s no hope for you little insect. Just give up before you embarrass yourself” he said insultingly. I smirked as I looked up into his eyes.

“Nah… I think I’m gonna make you earn it” I chuckled. His face reddened and he brought down his fist to try and squash me like a bug. I was about to leap back but found that I couldn’t even move my body. It was like all I could focus on was his demon eyes.

“OHHHH, it looks like Juggernaut has the human in ‘The Stare’. Hopefully the human can walk after this brutal attack” the announcer yelled out.

Third person, heaven battle arena:

Juggernaut’s fist slammed down on Clare. The ground was smashed beneath his powerful blow and it created a large crater beneath his hand. “OHHH, that has gotta hurt” the announcer yelled out.

Elder let out a depressed exhale as he buried his face behind his hands. “Well, since no-one has ever survived a strike from Juggernaut I think it’s safe to say that the human is…” the announcer trailed off as Juggernaut grunted in effort. Suddenly a blast erupted from underneath his hand and debris was blasted away, creating an even larger crater.

Juggernaut growled in effort as his hand began to be lifted up. Elder looked up to see Juggernaut’s hand getting lifted up by Clare, who had transformed into his powered up form.

Clare’s aurora flashed brilliantly around him, his hair had turned dark blue and was now spiked up. Elder’s jaw dropped open as he watched in pure amazement, no one who had ever been struck by Juggernaut had ever just got back up, usually they were knocked out for a few years.

Clare smiled then released Juggernaut’s hand and flew forwards at an incredible speed. He slammed a powerful punch right into Juggernaut’s chest, right where the ribcage ends and the lower torso area begins.

Juggernaut’s eyes went wide as he gripped his stomach and fell back wheezing in pain. Juggernaut didn’t get back up. Clare floated down to the ground peacefully and his powerful aurora and hair style disappeared.

The announcer and everyone else were awestruck. Clare had been the first ever person, or first every spirit for that matter, to survive a hit from Juggernaut. “Well…I… Uhm…I guess that means that Clare, the human, wins” the announcer said in pure shock.

Clare smirked then flew over top of Juggernaut and grabbed his hand. Clare used his flying propulsion to help Juggernaut to his feet. Juggernaut grunted in pain. “Why… why did you help me back up?” he asked curiously and Clare shrugged. “Well it’s just a championship, it’s not like we’re trying to kill each other. The match is over so that doesn’t mean we’re fighting each other anymore so I figured I’d do the kind thing of helping you back up” Clare told him. Juggernaut smiled. “I hope you win the championship” he told Clare and they both smiled.

Princess Luna, Canterlot castle, royal bedroom:

I awoke and reached over to hold Clare but sighed depressingly as I remembered he was no longer with me in this world. A tear trickled down my face but I held back my sniffles and crying.

I rolled out of bed and trotted out of my room. Hart and the other shadow guard at my door saluted me. Rustler, Clare’s guard replacement, was a gentlecolt just like Clare had been and was always asking if there was something else he could do for me.

I would always tell him I’d be fine but he, along with just about every other shadow guard, knew that I wasn’t really okay. I gave them a nod and continued trotting through the castle. Painfully happy memories flooded my mind as I passed the library. How we had trashed the library as we made our way through the castle in search of food. Another tear trickled down my face as I stopped and stood there silently, remembering the fun times we had together.

“Sister, there you are” called out a voice. I took a deep breath as I turned around and put on a fake smile to greet my sister. I wasn’t giving a fake smile because I didn’t like her but rather I was giving a fake smile so that she wouldn’t worry about me. I rarely smiled anymore, sometimes I’d give a faint laugh from one of Hart’s crude jokes that I’d hear him tell Rustler but I never smiled that much anymore.

“Hello dear sister” I replied in a fake casual voice. “Luna, I have a party to go to that Pinkie Pie herself is throwing. I was wondering if you wanted to go” my sister asked me. I shook my head. “No… I’d rather not today” I said and she put her hoof on my shoulder.

“This is why I forbid you from love” she told me in a soothing voice. I let out a sigh then went to continue on my trot but she stopped me. “Sister please. Just come with me, perhaps it will get your mind off of these depressing things” she told me and I let out a sigh then put on a smile.

“Alright sister, let us go to this party of Pinkie Pie’s” I said and she gave me a heartwarming smile. “That’s the spirit” she said happily and we trotted off through the castle.