Manonymous Part 2: Anon VS Shining Armor CONT.

>There's a stunned silence yet again as your words echo throughout the hall.
>"Y-ya'll wanna fight--" stammers Applejack
>"Without anyone holding back--" continues Rainbow
>"A-Against Shining Armour??" squeaks Fluttershy
>"Anonymous! Surely there's no need for an arteest like yourself to engage in such... ruffian activity, now is there?" swoons Rarity.
>"You're going to get your BUTT kicked in until it's like PUDDING!" Pinkie practically screams at the top of her lungs.
>"The girls are right, Anon!" Twilight shouts. "You saw what my brother could do with just one basic magical blast! And he's got so much more! He's set records for every single combat magic-based test there is! Why do you think he's a Captain of the Guard despite his age?"
"That's exactly why I want to stop holding back." You look at the 6 objectors, putting as much steel into your voice as possible. "I don't care about things like if I get hurt or pain or any other nonsense. All I care about is answering one simple question:"
"Am I strong?"
>There's a moment of silence as everyone processes what you just said.
>You turn back to face Shining and continue, "Any fool can tell that Shining Armour is strong, that he's powerful. And by fighting him, I can find out if I'm strong too. By fighting and by winning."
>You wheel back to Celestia, and speak loudly so your voice carries through the entire hall. "Celestia! Let me fight your servant! Let me cut loose with everything I have, and recieve the same in return! That is my compensation!"
>There's a moment as the two of you stare at each other, Celestia an ice cold mask, you with burning fire in your eyes.
>After what feels like an eternity, she nods slowly.
>"Very well. So long as you understand the consequences of this choice... I will allow it."
>"Princess Celestia--!" Shining Armour begins, but he's cut off.
>"It was your loss of control over your emotions and power that resulted in the agreement being broken, my Captain. Had you remained in control, we would not need to see the risks that are about to be taken. Remember that, and consider this, with whatever may happen, to be your punishment."
>A perfectly emotionless and cool tone. Cuts like sharpened steel, and Shining flinches at her words.
>"Yes, your highness..."
"Applejack, my bag please." You hold your hand out to the orange pony, who slowly trots over and deposits your pack at your feet.
"If we're going to be fighting for real, I'm going to look the part." You pull out four strips of cloth from your bag and a mouthguard.
>You kick off your shoes pull away your socks before removing your jacket. Your track pants came with zips above the knees, that allowed them to become shorts, which you also undo.
>With nothing hiding your secret now, you stand tall and throw your arms out wide, showing Shining what you had underneath.
>"What on Equestria...?" he mutters.
"Weights", you say. "They took the brunt of that big attack you gave me before and acted as armour for me, but now... They're only going to slow me down."
>You undo the fastenings on the bracers keeping the weights attached to your arms and legs before holding the bundle of them out to your side.
>Shining watches curiously, not understanding for a moment. Then, you drop them.
>The flagstones crack with a loud noise, like bamboo striking wood. Shining's eyes widen at the sight and sound.
"To be specific, the weights on my arms weigh 15kg, while the ones on my legs weigh 30", you talk with the same tone as one would use to describe the weather.
"I only weigh 80kg. While wearing those, my weight was doubled. And I'd guess you only weigh 40-45kg, so it made me four times as heavy as you are."
>You crack your knuckles and stretch out for a moment, enjoying the great feeling of lightness being rid of those weights gave you.
>What a sense of freedom. This is what you live for.
>You jump quickly on the spot and throw a few punches and kicks. There's a great deal more sharpness to them now. If Shining was having trouble before...
>Well, he's gonna be in real trouble now.
>You bind your hands and feet with the strips of cloth. You place your mouthguard in, biting down hard to make sure it's fitting well before giving a satisfied nod.
"Now I'm ready."
>You pack everything away in your bag and hand it all off to AJ. She seems to have a bit of trouble lifting it now with the weights in it, but she manages to get back to everyone else no problem.
>Taking up your stance back where you started, you imagine you look a great deal more impressive without any baggy clothes to hide your muscles.
>You're quite proud of your build. Years of work went into it, hours upon hours at gyms and in rings. It shows.
>Shining Armour cautiously takes up his own stance opposite you. He seems to be taking you seriously now.
>You close your eyes and focus. The first strike is all that counts right now. Focus everything you have in that one strike.
>Take a deep breath. Feel your power build. Start from the toes... Build it up through the legs... Into the torso... To the right arm.
>Everything slows. You're aware of every muscle in your body. Every twitch, the breeze blowing through the throne room, the shifting of the stone under you.
>For a moment you'd swear you could feel the planets rotation
>But then you remember, you don't even know if this planet rotates or not
>You tense everything. Clench your fists. Grip your toes into the stone. You feel the ground crack beneath your feet.
>You've been feeling it since you got here.
>Your body getting lighter even with the weights on.
>Your bruises from the landing healing in hours instead of days.
>And now
>There's so much power in your body
>So much strength that didn't exist before you came here
>It's been weeks since you took off the weights
>Your muscles are screaming at you to let it all out with how much you've tensed them
>And Shining is going to take all of that power
>In one punch
>One solid right drilled straight into his body
>You wait for the signal to start
>Slowly open your eyes and stare down the stallion before you
>He's not scared anymore
>He's determined, like you are
>Let's see how long that lasts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g50OgzHEQAs&list=LL_H-bw6te98WVf5JTR1-w-w

>There's lightning in the air and fire in your blood
>You're waiting for it, for Celestia's signal
>You want to fight!
>And finally it comes, after an eternity of silence in the hall, it finally comes:
>"Begin!"
>You kick off the stone as hard as you can
>You plant your left leg in front of Shining with all the force you can muster
>His eyes widen: he didn't expect this speed
>Your right leg lands: you twist your entire body so that this punch recieves 100% of your strength
>Shining's horn charges with magic
>Your fist swings
>It meets his barrier: Shining was quicker on the draw then you
>Not that it matters
>Because you just
>Don't
>Stop
>The barrier bends, it buckles inwards, your fist is so close to meeting Shining's ribs
>With a roar, you follow through on your blow, aiming to break straight through him and his magic protection
>Although you don't break the shield, Shining can't stop you either
>He's thrown up into the air with a sound like an explosion coming from the point where your fist met the barrier
>He flies a good 30 feet in the air and 40 feet away before righting himself, landing and regaining his balance
>He looks shocked. You're pretty surprised yourself.
>Shining might be half the weight of those you used to fight, but that doesn't mean you should be able to throw him that far with one punch
>Something's going on here
>You're not entirely sure what it is
>But you like it
>You see a shiver run through Shining's spine. He must have just visualised what would be of him now if that had hit
"Don't get too excited Shining. That was only a greeting!"
>Another two explosive steps in a fraction of a second, and a second hook sends Shining slamming into the nearest wall. A barrage of lefts keeps him there, while his barrier keeps him safe
>How impressive. Keeping a powerful barrier like that up must take a lot of focus, especially with the pressure you're piling on
>A front kick sent straight under the body and Shining's airborn again: this time you jump with him
>Using the wall to push off, you give Shining a spinning back kick. Your form was perfect, your heel lands in the field squarely in the field, and with another noise like a bomb, he's sent back to the other side of the hallway
>That always was one of your favourite kicks. Uses almost all the muscles in your lower body and torso and all of their power.
>You land and stand tall, shifting your neck and feeling the bones pop
>Shining is looking nervous, but he still has that determined look on his face
>His horn charges with power
>He must be tired of taking your hits
>You'd be willing to bet this is where he starts his counter-attack
>And what an attack it is
>A swirling cloud of dark purple energy blossoms out from his horn, crackling with electricity
>To say it looks ominous would be an understatement
>Something tells you that you don't want to be standing where you are in a second
>And you listen to that something, dashing away as quick as you can
>Sure enough, a bolt of purple lightning shoots out from the cloud and strikes the spot where you were standing a moment ago
>Leaving nothing but a black, smoking scorch mark on the stone
>You zig-zag with sharp steps, trying to make your path unpredictable as you close in on Shining Armour
>Bolt after bolt of purple lightning is thrown both at places where you were a moment ago and places where you would have been had you not changed your course
>This isn't funny. One of those hits you and you'll probably die!
>Mind you, Shining could say the same for one of your punches
>With the gap closed, You aim to throw a punch straight Shining again
>He smirks
>Too late you realise the trap
>The cloud which had slowly been shrinking as it threw bolt after bolt now swirls around to where your fist will pass through
>As you touch it, a blast of energy crackles across your skin and makes almost every muscle in your body scream
>But if you stop and try and pull back, you'll lose all your momentum in your punch
>Nothing to do but keep going forward!
>You grit your teeth and swing through the pain and the cloud
>You feel your fist scrape past Shining's face, and as your arm pulls free of the cloud you step back
>The cloud dissipates and you get a good look at Shining's face. There's a cut where your knuckles scraped by him, bleeding
>You glance at your hand. Blood on the middle knuckle. Scorche marks from the cloud. You unclench and reclench a few times, making sure you're still fine to go.
>The arm is fine. But that blast made you aware of your ribs again. You can still feel that first blast he gave you, even though it only had contact with your torso for a moment.
>What an insane fight this is. First to take a clean hit loses.
>You look Shining in the eyes, still in disbelief that you punched right through the electrically-charged cloud.
>You smile. Then chuckle.
>You look Shining in the eyes and grin with all the ferocity you can summon at the moment and say:
"It's fun, right?"
>Surprise takes his face over once again, and his eyes narrow, trying to figure out what you mean.
"Fighting with everything you have against a strong opponent. Even if you get hurt, even if your bones crack apart under the strain... It's seriously fun. Right?" you finish, keeping up your grin.
>He stops. Thinks for a moment.
>Then grins back.
>"Yeah... I think you're right."
>His horn charges, and in a flash, he's gone again, throwing a slew of the basic blasts he first hit you with at you from the other side of the room
>You charge in. These are much easier to dodge than the lightning bolts, and you have no trouble closing the gap
>But before you can even throw a single attack, he's gone again. On the other side of the room. Smiling.
>Your eyes narrow. Ahhh, he thinks he has you in checkmate: keep his distance, attack from range, and teleport away when you get close huh?
>It's not a bad plan. If you kept trying to pursue, then you'd run out of stamina and lose easily.
>You have other plans however.
>You stomp your foot, cracking the stone and pick up the pieces, juggling them slowly. First three pieces, then you're juggling 5, then 7, then 12 with both hands.
>Shining looks perplexed. He only has a moment to figure out what you're doing before you snap your arm around and launch one of the pieces of stone.
>The jagged rock shatters right in front of one of his front hooves. Even from here you can see the shards cutting into his leg, blood staining his white coat
>He grits his teeth and starts to throw more bolts at you, but he's forced to stop by your own ranged assault
>With the barrier up, he can't attack you, so you close in, throwing stone shards straight at him to make sure he can't teleport away this time
>Sure enough, you're back in melee range
>But what now?
>You could keep trying to break the barrier, but the thing can bend with your fists to soften to blows it takes
>You need to trick him into dropping it while you're in range for an attack
>You think you have an idea
>It's a little crazy
>And if it fails, you lose
>But if it works, you win
>With nothing else you mind, you plant your legs so you can shift your weight easily and throw a left hook, then lean to the right before snapping back and throwing a right hook.
>Then you lean to the left and snap back with a left hook and repeat the motion.
>As always, your fists keep meeting the barrier, which buckles but doesn't fall
>But now Shining's stuck, between the wall and your fists
>And you don't stop throwing punches
>Your form is like an infinity loop, never stopping or slowing down, never ceasing the assault
>At least, that was the idea
>Your stamina isn't infinite
>After what feels like an eternity, you start to slow
>Each hooks comes a little weaker than before, with a longer gap between them
>Your breathing becomes laboured, haggard
>Your leaning a little more exaggerated
>And Shining notices
>His eyes widen as he realises, you're not a juggernaut, you're not some unstoppable force
>You're a man
>And so he grits his teeth and waits
>His chance comes soon, when your attacks are at their slowest yet
>In this moment, many things seem to happen in an instant
>Your hands are extended, too far to bring back for a counter-attack
>His barrier drops
>You notice
>His horn charges for his strongest blast yet, aimed right at your chest again
>You grin, he's fallen into your trap
>He grins, he has you right where he wants you
>And you both roar out:
"I'VE GOT YOU!"
>Shining's head snaps back, his brain rattled
>He'd been paying so much attention to your fists, he had completely forgotten your feet
>The exaggerated lean wasn't because of exhaustion
>It was so you could move your right leg into a blind spot for this kick
>With his brain shaken, he can't focus his magic and the light around his horn dissipates
>He's open
>You've been waiting for this
>With a roar, you land a deep left hook into his liver
>You feel several ribs give and crack under the force
>A right hook slams into his other side
>That probably bruised one of his internal organs
>An upper sends his head straight up into the air
>You shift your heels, rotate and land your heel deep into Shining's middle
>All the breath is driven out of him
>But you still have the final hit to give
>You draw your fist back and swing it over your head as if it were a hammer
>And with the damage it's about to do, it may as well be
>It connects cleanly with Shining's jaw
>He's driven down into the cold, hard floor which breaks apart under the force of everything you have left
>A dust cloud is kicked up, obscuring you and making it harder to catch your breath
>You gulp down air, resting your hands on your knees for a moment, praying he doesn't get up
>If he somehow managed to stay conscious through that, you could be fucked...
>You take a final deep breath, and stand up tall again with squared shoulders
>The dust fades
>Shining Armour is lying there, eyes closed but definitely still breathing
>You breathe a sigh of relief
>You've never had such a crazy fight before.
>Hell, you're not really sure why either of you are still alive
>You close a hand around a fist and bow to Shining Armour.
"You were an excellent opponent... I please, I beg of you. Become even stronger! And stand before me again!"
>You break your bow, straighten your back
>And feel a cold chill run over your spine
>Killing intent and a lot of fighting spirit is washing over you in massive amounts
>You turn slowly to the source
>The Princess
>Her eyes are hard now and she's wearing a fierce smile. An expression you know well.
>The expression of a warrior who's found a wonderful new opponent
>The look on her face remains for a moment before she regains her usual calm and serene smile
>"It seems you have not yet told us everything about who you are, Anonymous."
>You wipe the sweat off your brow and smile.
"My name is Anonymous. And now, I am the strongest man in the world."

"Nice to meet you."

>A moments silence. Your voices carries around the hall. Then somebody speaks up.
>"That. Was. AWESOME!"
>You look over to see Rainbow coming at you with a look of pure glee on her face
>"The way that you blasted him up into the air before you kicked him across the room! Oh, oh! And how about that moment when you both looked exactly like you had each other right where you wanted the other, and then you're all like "I'VE GOT YOU!" and he yells the same thing! That was so. Freaking. COOL!"
>You laugh and scratch the back of your head, feeling embarrassed. "Really? Did I look cool when I said that? I wasn't even thinking about it at the time! Hahaha!"
>Rainbow smirks as the rest of the group starts to trot over to you. "You sure did! I've never seen anything like that in my life! You were almost as cool as one Rainbow 'Danger' Dash!" she smiles as she jabs you in the ribs good naturedly.
>The instant she touches you you remember that first shot you took. The sharp burst of pain causes you to gasp and choke loudly for a second as you clutch at your sides.
>Rainbow recoils at the sound and the rest of the group looks concerned, with lots of "What's wrong?"s and "Are you alright?"s.
>One hand trembling, you slowly lift up your shirt to get a good look at your ribs properly.
>They don't look good. The spot where you were hit has already gone completely black and purple. You try to touch it, wincing at the pain as your fingers brush over it.
"Shining Armour... You bastard... That first shot only connected for a moment, but it was enough to completely bust two of my ribs at least." Your face twists with pain and you drop your shirt back down.
>"You were fighting like that..." Applejack doesn't seem to believe what's in front of her eyes. "... The entire time? With... With yer ribs all broken like that?"
>"You are completely NUTS! I mean some ponies call ME crazy, but you, you're like you're from the crazy planet with the crazy town filled with crazy folk!" Pinkie's eyes are like dinner plates, practically popping out of her skull.
"It'll be fine. I've had worse", you grimace. It's not a lie, the adrenaline numbed the pain somewhat and you've had worse breaks in other parts of your body.
>Like the one time your collarbone broke. God that sucked.
>It wasn't even in a fight either.
>Twilight has gone into shock again. "He... He was throwing attacks like that at you the entire time... And you still managed to win... I don't--how?"
>"A big brother's... Gotta look good... In front of his... Little sister... right?"
>You whirl around at the sound of Shining's voice. He's regained consciousness, but clearly battered from the beating you gave him
>"Shining! Here, let me help you--" Twilight begins, but next you know, a golden light washes over the entire room.
>Stonework repairs itself in an instant and you feel the pain from your ribs disappear.
>Looking over Shining, his wounds have also disappeared
>The Princess, the source of the magical repair, speaks.
>"Well done, to the both of you. You have shown us all a wonderful display of courage and skill. Be proud of yourselves for what you have done today." She smiles warmly again. "I certainly am."
>With that, everyone bows to the Princess and prepares to leave. You give Shining a brofist (brohoof?) and a promise of a rematch
>The train ride back to Ponyville, Rainbow Dash is going over her favourite highlights of the fight while Rarity claims to have fainted at some point in the middle.
>AJ is pestering you to come try applebucking at some point. You get her to back off with a vague promise of 'sometime'.
>Pinkie looks to be pondering something deeply, occasionally mimicing one of your punches with her hooves. No clue what's going on in that mare's head.
>Fluttershy at first insisted on giving you a once-over to make sure you were really fine. Apparently, she's had a lot of experience with various injuries from tending to her animals.
>And Twilight was... Smouldering. Ignoring you, and looking extraordinarily upset. If she weren't a 3-foot high purple unicorn, it might be intimidating.
>Instead, it's a little adorable.
>After an hour of her huffing and occasionally giving you a glare, you sigh and turn to talk to her.
"Alright, Twilight. What's wrong."
>"Nothing."
"You've spent the past hour huffing and puffing in that corner of yours while giving me the stinkeye. Nothing my left foot."
>She puffs herself up and says, "Nothing! Oh, but that's only if you think watching my brother get beaten up the beast that's going to be staying in my house until we find the way to send it back is nothing!" her voice rising in pitch and volume as she talks.
"He got healed! We both did!"
>"How does that make what you did to him any better!? That, that -violence- was completely--!"
"Violence?" you say quietly. The sudden change in tone gets her attention.
"Twilight, I'm not going to let you insult Shining Armour any further. So listen closely because I'm only going to say this once..."
You hold up a few fingers. "There are 3 ways a man can raise his fist. The first, to destroy, hurt or to take something that does not belong to him. That is called violence."
"The second, to defend or to protect himself or someone he loves from violence. That is called self-defence."
"And the third, to test his strength and prove his power against an equal opponent on the field of battle with everything he has. That is called martial arts."
>You stand from your seat and walk over to Twilight as she stares at you, and speak.
"Shining was a magnificent martial artist. He acknowledged he may get hurt, but he did not run. He put his pride on the line as both Captain of the Guard and a big brother with all he had against me. Don't give him pity because he lost against me. Give him your respect because he fought well."
>There's another silence. Your words seem to be weighing heavily on Twilight. Perhaps she never considered that.
>You return to your seat and muse for a moment. "But still... Even though he was so strong, to think I found another opponent so soon... Or rather, they found me."
>Rarity groans. "Oh dear, surely you cannot mean you will engage in such recklessness again!"
>"W-who are you talking about? I can't remember anyone else there like that..." Fluttershy squeaks out quietly.
>You smirk.
"Don't you? They were even more hotblooded than I or Shining Armour. When they hit me with all that fighting spirit, my blood ran cold for a moment. They were just that intense. I wonder if I would stand even a one in a million chance... And I knew there was no chance we wouldn't clash in the future."
>More confused looks. They still haven't caught on.
>"So spill it, buster! Who was it? It... Wasn't one of us right?" Rainbow Dash adds nervously.
>You grin. A great, fierce grin.
"Your Princess Celestia."

>...

>"WHAAAAAAT!?"
"Would you stop sounding so surprised at everything I say and do? It's getting old fast."

>But you can't get a thought out of your head.
>Why are you so much stronger here than back home?
>What is this world hiding from you?
>And what will it throw at you next?