Does Friendship Conquer All?

[Twilight Sparkle]

(ooc: September 5th, at about 5 PM. Open only to Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie.)

This wasn't a good situation to be. Not in the slightest. She and Pinkie had to go and fight each other in approximately two hours time, give or take how long Scootaloo and Babs's fight lasted, and Twilight was more growing more worried with every passing moment. She trotted back and forth across the quad in the hopes that she could calm herself down, but this manic pacing was only making her more antsy. If only she and Pinkie didn't have to go up against each other. If only she'd been given one of those strange human creatures to fight. At least then she wouldn't feel that bad about fighting. In this instance, though? Twilight didn't know what she was going to do. She usually was the one with the plan in this particular instance. For once, though, the lavender unicorn found herself at a loss.

Maybe I should write a letter to Princess Celestia. Then I could ask her... No, the letter would take too long without Spike. What am I supposed to do? Twilight wondered. She finally stopped pacing and hung her head downward. What was the point in fretting like she was? It wasn't as if worrying was going to make it any easier to fight Pinkie. It would be so much easier to just teleport herself and Pinkie out of the arena... That wouldn't fly, though, and Twilight knew it. She and Pinkie could have wound up in trouble if they attempted that.

"Why did they have to pick us?" Twilight wondered out loud. "How are we supposed to get out of this without having to hurt each other?"

[Pinkie Pie]

Twilight would encounter a deflated Pinkie. Her hair hung like she'd flat ironed it to her pink body. Her tail dragged behind her as her head lowered, blue orbs staring at the ground. Her lip quivered. She was depressed and teetering on full on depression. She was hoping they'd let her out of going if she played sick or at least if she refused to get out of bed because she was so depressed. She shuffled her feet along before spotting her unicorn buddy and soon to be butt kicker. "Oh...hi Twilight."

She squeaked like Fluttershy when she spoke. Her eyes watered as she stared at her friend. "You're gonna kick my butt soon...huh?"

[Twilight Sparkle]

"Pinkie..."

Twilight could only remember seeing Pinkie's mane deflated once before, and she still didn't like seeing it. She also didn't like the assumption that she'd kick Pinkie's butt. Twilight was skilled with magic, it was true, but she didn't think she was anything special when it came to physical strength. That was more of Applejack's field of expertise. Her ears fell back and pain flickered through her eyes. Twilight really didn't want to inevitably fight Pinkie. They hadn't even gotten to the locker room yet and already it was clear that the unicorn was unwilling to do battle. Refusing to fight couldn't have ended well, though... Could it? Twilight really didn't know.

"I don't want to fight you, Pinkie. You're one of my best friends, and friends shouldn't have to fight. Why would they make us do this?" Twilight asked. If only some of their other friends were there. She wanted nothing more than to go back to Ponyville and be with all their friends again. So far, though, it was looking as though that wasn't going to happen. The only way they could go home was... Well, Twilight wasn't sure. The only thing she could think of would be going back in a body bag, and that wasn't all that appealing to her. Not at all.

[Applejack]

"Well there y'all are!"

After hearing the news that two of her best friends would be two of the students forced to participate in the fight, and no less with each other, Applejack had rushed to find them after classes. She hadn't had any luck at first, but here she was, encountering both of them at the same time. When she looked over at Pinkie, Applejack winced. She hadn't seen her friend like that for a long time now. It was no good sign to see Pinkie in that state.

"So..." Applejack began, but trailed off as she glanced between Twilight and Pinkie. What could she really say? "Gosh darn-it, what am I supposed to say? I hoped it wouldn't be one of us against another..." Applejack said, frowning as she looked at the ground. "Just... don't try to rough it all up in there..."

[Pinkie Pie]

"I don't want to fight you, Pinkie. You're one of my best friends, and friends shouldn't have to fight. Why would they make us do this?"

"sigh I dunno," she mumbled, "Maybe they just like seeing us sad and mopey lopey." She grimaced as Applejack walked up. She didn't know why she was so scared either. Twilight wouldn't hurt her unless she had to. Which was the part that scared her. If Twilight wanted she could blast away all five of her best friends without breaking a sweat. The thought sent Pinkie into a panic. What happened when Twilight was pitched against Rainbow Dash? Or Applejack? Or poor poor Fluttershy?

"NO!" Her own thoughts drowned in her without sharing with the rest of the class. "Twilight you can't fight Fluttershy!" She turned blue orbs on Applejack, eyes narrowed.

"How are we not supposed to do that!?"

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow Dash had decided to go for a fly. She needed somehow to get her mind off this fight somehow, and nothing she was really doing was helping. Rainbow sees her friends and flies down to greet them. This wasn't much of a reunion. She had hoped that the time they met up would be an easier encounter than this. Rainbow was almost too afraid to say anything. What could she have said? What could she say that would be helpful in this sort of situation? "Hey, guys" Rainbow finally said. She wanted to suggest simply not showing up for the fight, but, wasn't sure how good of an idea that really was.

[Twilight Sparkle]

"I don't intend to get too rough, Applejack. That's what's making things difficult," Twilight said as she turned her attention to the earth pony. She knew she had powerful magic at her disposal. After all, that was her element. If she wanted to, she probably could have blown her friends away. She'd never wanted to, though, and she didn't intend to start right then or there. There just had to be something that she could do. Twilight absolutely refused to use her stronger spells against Pinkie. The last thing she wanted to do was leave a pink smear on the arena ground. What could she-

Pinkie's shrill cry of 'NO' snapped Twilight out of her thoughts, and her mane and tail stood on end as she raised a hoof in the air in surprise. What had Pinkie just been thinking about? ...Oh. She must have been thinking about the possibility of her hurting Fluttershy. The pegasus wasn't present, at least as far as Twilight was aware, and she wouldn't dare hurt the timid pegasus either. Not unless she absolutely had to. But that was the whole dilemma. She didn't want to, but she had to fight Pinkie that day. As she thought about this briefly, a glimpse of rainbow colors caught her eye and she glanced in the blue pegasus's direction. First, she had to address Pinkie's concern. She couldn't let the pink mare think that she was going to go on a friend blasting spree.

"Pinkie, it's okay! I'm not going to hurt Fluttershy, I won't hurt you, and I certainly won't hurt Rainbow Dash or Applejack here. I'll... I'll just..."

Twilight bit her lip. What was she going to do now? Her magic was powerful, and everyone knew it. There had to be some way around that much. Maybe... At length, purple eyes grew a touch wider.

"Wait, I've got it! I'll just use a tickling spell," Twilight said. She glanced at the others, almost as though she expected confirmation of the idea from Rainbow and Applejack, before going on. "If I tickle you into submission, that would have to count as a victory. AND I wouldn't have to hurt you! It's genius! ...Isn't it?"

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow dash was unsure. I mean on paper that sounded like an amazing idea. But, she had her doubts that the person who brought them here/ watching wanted a fight to end like that. She thought that that person would MAKE the ponies fight somehow. "Sounds like a good idea twilight" dash said trying not to make her concern visible in her voice. "It's worth a shot" dash said with a little smile.

[Applejack]

"I just hope they don't make you too... I'm not too sure on that bit." Applejack said in response to Twilight, biting her lip. Would others in the fights fight seriously? She didn't know. It could've been just an unlucky chance that two of them wold be fighting each other. But what about Apple Bloom's friends, Scootaloo and Babs fighting too? It seemed whoever was running the show was trying to make ponies... or people in other cases fight against others they knew.

Applejack winced as Pinkie Pie shouted out. Was she thinking if Twilight was pitted up against Fluttershy in the arena? Applejack hadn't seen the butter-colored mare around yet, but she didn't doubt that she could've got a letter to, due to at least four of them receiving one as far a she knew. Rarity and Fluttershy... what circles if they were here would the be in? Applejack counted herself lucky to have Rainbow in her circle at least.

Speaking of the rainbow-maned pegasus, Applejack looked over to see her arriving from a flight, she supposed. "Hey, Rainbow..." She said, sighing. It wasn't as awkward between them. They were both in the same circle, and both not in the fights today. Figures. If they'd been in different circles, and on a fight, they would've been an equal match for each other, as much as Applejack hated to admit.

At Twilight's suggestion, Applejack blinked for a few moments. Would that... work? Probably not. Maybe? Applejack had no clue, and she raised an eyebrow. "Uh, sugarcube? You sure that's the best idea? I mean, they won't let you out of the fight... I reckon they wouldn't let you just use a spell like that..."

[Rainbow Dash]

Rainbow dash smiled a hello to apple jack. It was true, things would be a lot easier being on the same team as Applejack. When applejack voiced her concerns dash nodded feeling the same way, but wasn't able to say that exactly the first time.

"I sorta agree with applejack here Twi. The person or people running these "games" are trying to drive a wedge in every pony's friendships. My concern is that they will make the fight keep going till one of you is scarred and bloodied. Something tells me, they won't let you off so easily. Your idea is a great one on paper, but, I just don't think they are gonna let it end like that" rainbow dash said with a sad sigh

[Twilight Sparkle]

"But that's just it. I don't want to hurt Pinkie at all," Twilight said. She knew her idea was foolish, but it had been the best one that she could come up with that wouldn't involve hurting anyone. The only other option had been to just teleport Pinkie away, and obviously it was even worse than the first idea. Her ears fell back again and she looked at the ground with a disheartened expression on her face. Maybe this just was a bad idea in general. There was the possibility of trying to run away, but... No. That wouldn't work, either. They just would have to face this.

"What do I do, girls? My magic is powerful, and if I use it... I could really hurt you, Pinkie. But I don't want to just run around like a little lost filly, either," Twilight said. Charging at each other wouldn't do good, either. She had her horn, and that could have been used to pierce pony flesh if enough strength was applied... At least, that was the theory Twilight's worried mind was bringing to her. All in all, it just wasn't a good situation.

"We can't just give up... But it feels so hopeless."

[Fluttershy]

Fluttershy hadn't dared to look at the fight lists. In fact, since getting here and learning about the fights, she had hardly dared to venture out of the water circle dorms at all. Once or twice, the sight of a small animal or two - almost always wearing the uniforms that marked them as students, which the shy pegasus couldn't help but feel only raised their adorableness level even further - had coaxed her out of the little cottage on the beach to try and befriend them; but even they seemed to have more pressing concerns on their minds than making a new friend, and as often as not the pegasus had been left alone on the beach.

At least, until she spotted someone else coming and barricaded herself back inside before they could see her.

She hadn't dared even seek out any of her friends upon arrival. The nervous pegasus wasn't sure any of them even knew she was here; she hadn't been able to work up the nerve to attend classes. Under other circumstances, not even Fluttershy would have been so reclusive - but under other circumstances, nopony wouldn't have been expected to fight everypony else; she had heard about the fights moments after arrival and, dreading them, had kept away from everyone and everything else. It had only been that very morning that she had discovered the fights weren't disorganised brawls where everypony jumped on you whenever you let your guard down, but actual organised one-on-one events, and that fact gave Fluttershy at least a little degree more confidence... enough to don her uniform for the first time since arrival - including the navy-blue tie that had been lying on her nightstand and judging her ever since her arrival - and creep out of the dorms in search of her friends.

It was just good luck that they had almost all gathered in the first place she looked.

"Oh, girls, I'm so glad I've found you." The pink-maned mare had crept up to the group so quietly that they might not even have noticed her arrival. She was all too aware of the downcast expressions on everypony's faces - and that none of them save for Twilight wore a tie the same colour as her own - and it wasn't a fact that made her feel much better at all. Still, at least they were almost all together, with Rarity being the only exception. Fluttershy dared to hope that the white-coated unicorn might have done the smart thing and stayed back in Ponyville.

"Um, wh-what's going on?" She hardly dared to even whisper the question, not even sure she wanted the answer. What if the thing they were all concerned about was one of them being in a fight that afternoon? What if all of them were in fights that afternoon? What if something awful happened to each of them and she was left here all alone? The pegasus let out a tiny little squeak at the thought, shrunk down even further, and didn't utter another sound.

[Twilight Sparkle]

It seemed that at least one of Pinkie's fears wouldn't be coming to fruition.

Twilight's ears perked at the sound of Fluttershy's voice, but her demeanor didn't change all that much. The young unicorn felt rather despondent still, and the fact that she had no idea of how to handle fighting Pinkie wasn't making her feel any better. However, she did feel just a touch better when she saw that Fluttershy was wearing the same navy blue uniform parts that she was. Twilight wouldn't have to fight Fluttershy any time soon. That didn't mean that Applejack and Pinkie wouldn't have to, but for the moment that was the least of Twilight's concerns. Twilight heaved a sigh of relief and began to speak moments after.

"Oh, Fluttershy! Thank goodness... We're in the same circle! Pinkie was afraid that I might have to fight you," Twilight said. She realized a bit too late that this might sound odd, but unfortunately had no way of trying to mince her words this time. The most she could do was rub a hoof against the ground and try to think of something else to say. All that came out was the truth.

"Pinkie and I have to fight each other, Fluttershy. I've been trying to think of ways to make it so I don't have to hurt her, but... I guess I'm not as clever as I thought."

[Applejack]

"Well... well I don't know bout' you trying a tickiling spell, but don't you have some kind of spell you know that'll make you look like your hurting Pinkie? Some kind of spell to make it look like what Rainbow here said?" Was there even a spell like that? Applejack had no clue, not being a unicorn herself, but it might work... Applejack wasn't ready to see her friends fight. "I mean... if it looks like one of you are hurt, they can't have you going much longer... right?"

Applejack blinked as she heard Fluttershy's voice, and turned her head to look over towards Fluttershy. She was in the water circle... Twilight's circle. So, at least each one of them would have another friend in their circle... except Pinkie Pie. Applejack winced slightly. Three friends at least she would maybe be forced to fight. And that didn't count Rarity if she was here... and maybe even Apple Bloom.

Applejack lifted her head slightly as Twilight spoke, and shook her head a little. "Your still clever, Twi. It's just... we've never been separated from each other before..." Applejack said, sighing a bit as she lowered her head. "It ain't like any challenge any of us have faced before..."

[Pinkie Pie]

"A tickling spell?" Pinkie's mane popped up. She grinned. "OH OH OH! I can do tickling!" She bounced a few times. "I promise not to laugh! I'll be like 'ahhhhhh oh noooo she's got me!' But inside I'll be like 'eheheheeheeheehee!' That'll work, right Twilight?" But as the other girls spoke, Pinkie turned panicked, ears pinning back as her mane went flat again. Her lip quivered as she pushed towards Twilight, mouth dropping.

"Twilight...please," she said, "We gotta figure something out. We just gotta. I can't...I don't wanna get hurt. I'm no good at fighting...I..." She sniffed, arms wrapping around Twilight's shoulders as she cried into her purple fur. Fluttershy's voice snapped her out of her complete sadness.

"FLUTTERSHY!!!" She gasped, "What're you doing here?!" Her mane proofed again as she bounced towards her friend. "You can't BE here! This isn't fair! They can't make her fight!" She plopped down again. "Oh gosh...oh golly...I don't know what we're gonna do..."