Thanks to Pinkie's enthusiasm about the sport, and her friend's various matches, boxing had taken Ponyville by storm. Some ponies got into it themselves while others chose to spectate and keep up with the records. This enthusiasm even spread to the School of Friendship, where Pinkie decided to start up a boxing club for the students to join. Almost every variety of creature enrolled in the school, some of them instantly getting into the sport. The famed Young Six were no exception, Pinkie's attitude about the sport rubbing off on them.
The club was held in the school gym after classes have ended for the day, and the close-knit group of friends were practicing their techniques. Gallus the griffon was punching away at a sandbag, wearing his sky-blue gloves and matching speedo. He also wore a harness for his wings so they wouldn't get in the way or give him a flight advantage during matches. Helping him was the earth pony Sandbar, who held the bag as he punched, "Left, right, right, hook, jab, left, uppercut!" came the commands he shouted. Gallus followed every one of them, not missing a beat.
After one final uppercut, Gallus stopped his assault while panting heavily. He was handed a water bottle by Sandbar, "Nice job Gallus, your form is a tight as ever." he said.
"Nothing to it." Gallus said before taking a big swig of water.
"After you rest up a bit, want to hop in the ring?" the pony asked.
"Sure, why not? What's our score again?" the griffin asked.
"I have six wins under your eight. With that last win against you, I'm catching up." Sandbar said with confidence.
"Don't count on it, soon it will be nine to six." Gallus said.
Just then, a thud was heard coming from the gym's ring where a spar was taking place. Another of the Young Six, Silverstream the hippogriff, was fighting against a dragon student named Slash. He had green scales and a yellow underbelly with two white horns protruding from his head. These were covered up by two foam balls so that they wouldn't injure anycreature that he faced. He also wore a harness for his wings, along with a pair of red boxing gloves and a matching speedo with a flame design.
The thud in question was caused by Silverstream hitting the mat, courtesy of a hard right hook to the head. She wore a harness for her wings as well a pair of light pink boxing gloves and a speedo, "Come on, get up!" Slash demanded. Silverstream shakily got up before the count reached eight.
The ref, a deer student named Twinleaf, asked Silverstream if she could continue, "Y-yes…" she said nervously.
"You sure? Perhaps you should throw the towel while you can." Slash mocked. Silverstream glared at him and moved forward after Twinleaf gave word to start fighting again. The hippogriff started out with a fast jab to the nose, only for it to be deflected and countered with a belly uppercut. Silverstream tried to fight through and throw two hooks to the head, but Slash was ready and backed away before crossing Silverstream in the side.
The hippogriff was on the defensive as she was backed into the ropes, all her attacks being countered or blocked. A right hook left her panting and dizzy while the ropes kept her standing. She saw three of her dragon opponent right in front of her as her head spun. Slash taunted her, causing her to break through the dizziness and raise her gloves. She swung a wild haymaker to the head, only for Slash to dodge and land a solid uppercut to the chin.
Silverstream fell to the mat with her eyes spinning. She couldn't beat Twinleaf's count. "Winner by knockout, Slash." Twinleaf announced as the dragon paraded around the ring with his gloves raised.
"Oh yeah, who's the baddest?" he said, his cockiness coming off as irritable to everycreature in the room. Gallus and Sandbar rushed to her aid as some other students got her out of the ring and onto a bench. Her eyes were still spinning as they checked up on her.
"Silverstream, are you alright?" Sandbar asked. Silverstream merely groaned in response as she was still caught in a dazed bliss.
"Seriously, that's like my fifth win in a row. Can anyone in here give me a decent challenge?" Slash asked.
Gallus stepped up, "A lot of the other students in here have held streaks way longer than that. You're not as hot as you think you are." he said.
"If you got something to say featherbrain, why don't you come in here and say it." Slash told him.
"Gladly, I'll take you on and prove how wrong you are." the griffon challenged.
After a short time passed, both contenders were in the ring. Twinleaf stood between the two of them, "I believe you two know the rules already. Tap gloves and start at the bell." he said.
The dragon and griffon bumped gloves, "Ready to get pruned, featherboy?" the former mocked.
"As ready as you are scalebutt." the latter said as they went back to their corners. Gallus received a massage from Sandbar while Silverstream watched from ringside. After the beating she received from the cocky dragon, she couldn't wait to see what was coming to him. The bell rang and both contenders moved to the center of the ring with their guards raised. Slash smirked as he threw a hard jab to the beak, wanting to get it over with quickly.
To his surprise, Gallus dodged it with relative swiftness, "Missed me!" he said. Slash threw another punch, which was dodged again, "Close." Gallus said.
"Hold still!" Slash shouted as he threw more punches, with Gallus dodging all of them. Some of the students giggled at this display, causing Slash to glare at them, "Oh, you think this is-" his words were interrupted by a hook to the head, causing him to stumble.
"Your opponent's right here." Gallus told him.
"I'm gonna get you!" Slash growled as he tried to attack the griffon, only to meet air. Gallus spent the whole match dodging his opponent's strikes. He found the attacks easy to read and predict, which pointed out the obvious fact that Slash was just relying on his natural dragon strength to end fights quickly. Slash grew more irritated as the fight dragged on. The giggles that were coming from the crowd made him want to knock Gallus out quickly just so he could face all of them and teach them a lesson. It took all his self-control to keep his flame breath from pouring out, although some smoke did come from his mouth.
After a while, Slash was getting tired. His movements were becoming completely obvious, and he was notably out of breath. All Gallus had to do was keep out of reach. Eventually, Slash stopped punching in the middle of the ring. His arm dropped and he had a tired look on his face as he panted. Gallus simply walked up to him and wound up a hard uppercut to the chin. Slash flew back a few feet and crashed onto the ring with his eyes spinning and gems circling his head. Twinleaf counted him out and raised Gallus' glove in the air, "Winner by knockout, Gallus!" he announced.
The Griffon's friends ran into the ring to congratulate him, "That was awesome." Sandbar said.
"You really know how to move around a ring. You think you could teach me that sometime?" Silverstream asked.
"Sure, I'd be more than happy to." Gallus said as they exited the ring and left Slash to enjoy his nap.
