open Bangcolt Arena! (Fighting/Sol) -RP-

[P-Jay 1,987]

Ironblade allowed a triumphant smirk to cross her face, if only for a fraction of a second. She started to slow down a bit to keep from falling off the edge. Trotting, she circled Hiero, eye narrowed. "That was actually rather sad," she said.

 

Her horn lit up red once again. "But no matter," she said. Grabbing a nearby rock in telekinesis, she sent it hurtling towards Hiero's head. While he focused on that, her horn brightened, just barely. A pentagonal pane of red light, shaped like the blade of a sword, flew forward, hovering a few inches in front of Hiero's throat.

 

Hiero raised the mundane sword in front of him, sideways, as she attacked. His eyes closed...His horn beginning to flare with a purple aura. Which, seeing as beforehand, his magic signature was a deep golden, would come off as rather peculiar...

 

"...Sad, you say...?" He asked quietly, looking at her with that same, focused gaze. Although something seemed different. Something had changed. Was it...Perhaps the beginning spark, towards a deeper sense of power?

 

"...Well...I suppose I can make an exception, for this battle...I had originally planned on using standard magic. But since you find me so disappointing..."

 

His horn flashed. Three pillars of magic--roughly two feet in diameter each--were conjured at an instant, around him. Spinning at such a speed, that the rock, and conjured sword both, were likely destroyed. The spell that had acted as a shield was gone as fast as it appeared, leaving the old veteran where he was standing...Only, one of his eyes had changed color, to a deep purple. 

 

"Then I suppose I must get serious." The air seemed to vibrate, and crackle, around him, as he slowly shifted his sword to his side, to suggest such a ready pose, to strike at a moment's notice.

 

Without waiting for a reply, he began to sprint towards the mare at a speed, that compared to how he had been moving beforehand, would come off as rather startling. His blade already moving to attack horizontally, as he closed the space between the two, within mere moments...The blade itself, coating in a dark purple aura, to extend it's reach--and no doubt, it's potency to maim.

 

The slow but steady fighter Ironblade had been dealing with thus far, was no more, replaced by a seasoned fighter who radiated a vibe that suggested a power even beyond what he was showing...And was already frightening, as he was, now.

Edited June 30, 2016 by P-Jay

[TerminalObsession 250]

@@P-Jay, 

 

Ironblade froze for that fraction of a second, staring like a deer in a spotlight. As Hiero approached, she managed to snap out of it. Ducking rapidly forward, she rolled under Hiero's strike, though it clipped a few hairs from the top of her mane. As she rolled nder him, one of Iron's hooves latched onto his leg, yanking it at an angle that was awkward but painless. Her other forehoof snaked around Hiero's opposite shoulder and she yanked herself up, twirling to buck him in one side. Another conjured blade sliced at him from behind as she shoved him; Clearly, she was used to wrestling in close combat. Why, however, was anypony's guess.

[P-Jay 1,987]

Ironblade froze for that fraction of a second, staring like a deer in a spotlight. As Hiero approached, she managed to snap out of it. Ducking rapidly forward, she rolled under Hiero's strike, though it clipped a few hairs from the top of her mane. As she rolled nder him, one of Iron's hooves latched onto his leg, yanking it at an angle that was awkward but painless. Her other forehoof snaked around Hiero's opposite shoulder and she yanked herself up, twirling to buck him in one side. Another conjured blade sliced at him from behind as she shoved him; Clearly, she was used to wrestling in close combat. Why, however, was anypony's guess.

 

Hiero's attack missed, as he noticed her duck underneath, twisting to expose his ribs, in which she bucked at...But curiously enough, the hoof that wasn't holding his blade poised to block against the attack. Although it still hurt him, arms not being made for guarding, it still defended his ribs--which were even more frail then his arm was. In his blade's reflection, he noted the sword coming to slice at his opposite side, and once again, just like before, his horn--and eye--flashed with the same violently purple glow...

 

"...You're going to have to try a little harder then that..."

 

As as if guided by an otherworldly spirit, with the strength and swiftness of an earth pony, or pegasus, he spun, swinging his blade, which had been coated with the magic, to grow to an almost absurd size, to produce a weak--but still very effective--shockwave around his body. Aiming to deflect any further attacks, while to upset Ironblade's footing, mainly. Far too weak to do any real damage...It felt more like a wave of water, traveling in the air.

 

...Although, it didn't stop Hiero from lunging once more, after the shockwave passed through the arena, aiming to thrust the blade, directly at Iron's shoulder...

[J.R. 3,183]

@@Literally Snails,

The mare sighed. In reality she wanted to test him to make sure he was worth her time, but she had found that he was not who she was looking for. However....maybe he was useful in other ways. ​"Well...I was going to see if you could aid me in.,...certain aspects if you were capable."

[TerminalObsession 250]

@@P-Jay,

 

Though Iron herself stumbled back, her sword was barely even slowed down by the shockwave. She kept it pointed straight-on at the wind. After all, it was a flat plane of magic, as thin as it was possible for anything to be. There was no air resistance, nothing to push it back. It just kept going, though it did miss Hiero's shoulder by an inch.

 

Iron struggled to regain her footing as she pressed her advantage, stopping the blade and sending it swinging sideways at Hiero's neck. At the same time, she dropped into another roll, this one taking her sideways. She didn't bother to track her own blade with her eyes, instead focusing on dodging Hiero's very large, very sharp looking sword. Her blade clipped through the back of his mane and dissipated as Iron struggled to dodge the large blade.

 

She blinked as an idea hit her, before grinning. Kicking off of the floor (she was starting to get used to fighting on smooth stone) Iron continued her roll straight at Hiero, bouncing to her hooves right in front of him. She let her horn glow as though releasing a spell...

 

Before dropping it and punching Hiero in the face.

[Literally Snails 2,307]

@@Literally Snails,

The mare sighed. In reality she wanted to test him to make sure he was worth her time, but she had found that he was not who she was looking for. However....maybe he was useful in other ways. ​"Well...I was going to see if you could aid me in.,...certain aspects if you were capable."

"And yet I get the impression you're already judging me." Snow said with a snicker. "Very well. I'll let you see if I'm worth your time, but you have yet to mention why I'd help you. Above anything, I want recognition for my work. If I'm to do anything for you, I'd better be the one getting credit. I don't care if it's fake or infamy either."

[Unicorncob 5,694]

"she's just going to let him do whatever he wants, isn't she? There's no reason Mni should have been able to prepare such an advanced technique if the dimwit used her time wisely." Tricis mumbled to herself, taking mental notes on her potential students.

 

The aura of energy around Mni's entire body densened around his hind hooves that were planted in the ground. He moved his other hoof from his mouth to the side of his body before he immediately shot down into the mud as if suddenly disappearing in water, all of this happening in a matter of seconds before he emerged from the ground again, shooting up high in the air behind Jade with a gigantic suit of thick, stone armor around his body that made him look like some sort of spikey golem. "Armor of Clay!"

 

Jade swung herself around as Mni emerged from behind, wearing some kind of thick, stone armour. Her eyes narrowed as she sized up this new threat, and bent her neck to pop her joints.

 

If I can defeat him this form, Master Tricis will have to accept me as her pupil!

 

Swinging her fiery sword, she charged at Mni, ready to swing.

[J.R. 3,183]

@@Literally Snails,

Sederia thought long and hard about what she should do with him. On the one hand, she didn't know if she could trust him entirely, but then there was the fact that she barely knew him. ​"Hm...you could prove very useful for my plans. You see, my plan is to make an impact hard enough to make sure these city ponies understand that nature is the pinnacle of life."

[P-Jay 1,987]

Though Iron herself stumbled back, her sword was barely even slowed down by the shockwave. She kept it pointed straight-on at the wind. After all, it was a flat plane of magic, as thin as it was possible for anything to be. There was no air resistance, nothing to push it back. It just kept going, though it did miss Hiero's shoulder by an inch.

 

Iron struggled to regain her footing as she pressed her advantage, stopping the blade and sending it swinging sideways at Hiero's neck. At the same time, she dropped into another roll, this one taking her sideways. She didn't bother to track her own blade with her eyes, instead focusing on dodging Hiero's very large, very sharp looking sword. Her blade clipped through the back of his mane and dissipated as Iron struggled to dodge the large blade.

 

She blinked as an idea hit her, before grinning. Kicking off of the floor (she was starting to get used to fighting on smooth stone) Iron continued her roll straight at Hiero, bouncing to her hooves right in front of him. She let her horn glow as though releasing a spell...

 

Before dropping it and punching Hiero in the face.

 

He flinched, as the blade shot past his shoulder, grazing his skin, as he thrust. Which she dodged, rolling. He mentally noted how far conjuring spells have come, raising his sword to guard against it, as it spun to slash at him. He noted it's power...Impressed, to say the least, with her abilities thus far. She was quick to react, and quicker still to cover up her mistakes. 

 

His watchful eyes followed her, as she rolled, moving to lunge towards him, no doubt preparing another of those conjured sword spells...Hiero readied his blade, to guard against a faint pop that he would hear, when the sword would be conjured...Before blinking, as her horn stopped glowing, a hoof moving to punch his nose. 

 

He furrowed his brow. Such a simple tactic, did she think that slow and ancient as he was, a feint so plain would work on him? He sidestepped swiftly, his sword dropped in the dirt, aiming to catch the arm that was being thrown at him...Aiming to twist it, into his grip, behind her back. If he were to succeed, in this move, she would be in a position, that the slightest pressure would dislocate her arm...

[TerminalObsession 250]

@@P-Jay,

 

Iron grinned at him. Her eye glittered in the sunlight  as she lowered her head a fraction of an inch.

 

Ignoring the nasty snap of her arm dislocating, she lifted her other forehoof from the ground and slugged Hiero squarely in the jaw. Her head flew forward, the jagged tip of her horn drawing a bloody track along his face, barely missing his eye. Iron turned her head to push  Hiero aside, her horn lighting as she did so. Quickly, she reared back. Iron blasted Hiero with another telekinetic bolt, turning the recoil into a backwards roll that took her away from him.

 

The attack had barely taken a few seconds. Iron smirked at him under her still-glowing horn as her telekinesis snapped her arm back into position. Another second and three translucent blades hung between the two fighters.

[Hazard Time 1,127]

Raze looked at Lektra as she flew off. She obviously didn't hear the last part of wanting to know her more.

 

"...Rude," he said softly to himself, as he sat up. "Doesn't she know when a guy's trying to hit on her?" He sighed.

 

Oh well, he thought. She was nice either way... and that was mostly business too...maybe next time.

 

He peeked his head out the door. Now, it seemed like a couple of guards had been stationed to various places around the facility. He quickly ducked his head back inside as he looked out the window. It didn't seem like a far drop down. He braced himself, and took a running jump out the window, landing with a roll, then proceeded to run out into the town.

@Hazard Time

As he ran, he heard something. Sounds of a fight? A voice cried out in a language he wasn't too familiar with... a feminine voice, which he knew he heard before.

 

He began running in the direction he heard the fight coming from, and hid against a wall. Slowly peeking his head out, he saw the aristocrat and Agririon facing each other. What he really noticed though was the aristocrat's weird powers.

 

...Blood magic he thought. The forbidden, demonic kind... so she can fight. At least she holds her own, I'll give her that much.

 

He thought about this for a while. He just made that deal with Lektra; maybe he shouldn't go in now. At the same time, Agririon didn't look like he was doing any significant damage to her, and it looked liked stepping in would turn the tables. After a minute, he decided it was time to lend a helping hand to his wraith friend, and quickly turned the corner, hooves on his katana, and dashed towards her, drawing it and going for a horizontal slash towards her chest.

 

She had this outworlder on the ropes!  Just one more thrust, and It was guaranteed a blood offering...

 

Suddenly, a new heartbeat reached her ears, growing louder fairly quickly.  Somepony was rushing them, but who would they be joining?  If she retreated and turned to face the newcomer, her flank would be exposed to Agririon, but if she didn't, and this interloper was hostile, she would not make it out alive.  

 

As a result, she abandoned her coup de grace and dashed backwards, just in time to see the blur of a blade whizz by her chest.  When he stopped ahead of her, her eyes widened in recognition.

 

"Raze," Carnelian purred, a wide toothy grin spreading her lips.  "I must thank you for sparing me the trouble of tearing this city apart to find you, but I am rather annoyed you chose to interfere in my duel.  I would call it cowardly of you to send a crony to soften me up before you finish me off, but that is actually a very legitimate plan, albeit one that I doubt you were cunning enough to actually plan.

 

"Instead, I propose a temporary non-aggression pact.  You and I put away our weapons until such a time as an official duel between us can be arranged at the arena.  How does that sound, dear?  If you can find just the right faculties to summon some patience, you could get the chance to humiliate me before thousands of ponies.

 

"In the mean time, assuming you accept my deal, if you could also send your stone-headed belligerent of a friend back to the plane from whence he came, I promise not to evacuate all the blood in his body as an offering to my patron."

[Jack Baker 698]

@Hazard Time

"Ah yes, resulting to insults. How elegant of you," Raze said to her, as he reseathed his katana. He then began to think about her offer. Yeah, he'd like to do that, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel suspicious about all of this; ponies like her tend to go back on their word in the blink of an eye...

 

No. He would not fall for her tricks. He would end her, right here, right now.

 

"First off, Ag's a wraith, so he's got no blood to begin with. So there goes that threat, yeah? And second, if you think I'm gonna just let you tell me where to go, you've got another thing coming. We're gonna do this right here, right now. You don't even deserve that attention anyway. No, you deserve to die alone, here, in a dirty street."

 

He put his hooves on his sword, ready.

Edited July 3, 2016 by The Sad Manikin Mask

[Hazard Time 1,127]

@

 

Carnelian's eyebrows furrowed at his choice.  She might have planned to keep her word, but she also had plans that would have given her several legs up in the coming competition.  Too bad Raze wasn't so easy to cow.  Well, if Agririon was her test, then she was more than ready for the likes of him.

 

 

"So be it," she growled.  "Bear witness, Raze.  You have signed your death warrant!  Omichi!"  With a sweep of her hoof, a bright red mist spouted from her slit ankle, blanketing the entire rooftop in a cloud of blood.  Visibility was cut, but only for those who could not see through other means.

[Jack Baker 698]

@Hazard Time

Raze looked at the "blood cloud" hovering above the two of them. It seems she didn't want anyone else to interfere. Fine by him, it meant he could step his game up. He drew his katana and took out the bottle of purifying liquor dangling from his waist, taking a swig and spitting it on the blade. He then slowly ran his hoof across it, reciting something in Neighponese:

 

 

Pure body

Pure mind

Pure soul

As pure as fresh snow, so too this blade shall be.

 

The katana began to glow a faint white, the glow outlining the edges of the blade. The blade was now free of all impurities, and he could now perform Sacred Arts.

 

He resheathed it, and resumed his original stance, hoof on the handle, ready to draw the sword again if necessary. He remained silent, eyes fixed on the baroness's next move.

Edited July 2, 2016 by The Sad Manikin Mask

[P-Jay 1,987]

Iron grinned at him. Her eye glittered in the sunlight  as she lowered her head a fraction of an inch.

 

Ignoring the nasty snap of her arm dislocating, she lifted her other forehoof from the ground and slugged Hiero squarely in the jaw. Her head flew forward, the jagged tip of her horn drawing a bloody track along his face, barely missing his eye. Iron turned her head to push  Hiero aside, her horn lighting as she did so. Quickly, she reared back. Iron blasted Hiero with another telekinetic bolt, turning the recoil into a backwards roll that took her away from him.

 

The attack had barely taken a few seconds. Iron smirked at him under her still-glowing horn as her telekinesis snapped her arm back into position. Another second and three translucent blades hung between the two fighters.

 

Hiero felt a confident, triumphant feeling from feeling the arm snap under his influence. Surely she wouldn't be able to fight, with one arm incapacitated--that punch was unexpected. Were all unicorns so resilient? And...

 

Starting to let go, once her horn was dragged across his cheek, he wondered every unicorn's horn was this sharp, now. 

 

But that didn't stop him, from coating his blade in the crackling purple aura, to deflect the blast off the mountain. His eyes narrowed, at the feat of mental discipline, as she set her arm back into place. 

 

"...You're a hardy one, are you not?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at her. He had taken quite some damage, throughout the fight, for such a brittle frame he had at his disposal. Visibly starting to appear winded...Tired. "Ponies usually give up, rather then going through the pain of snapping the bone back into place..."

 

He pondered drawing Selene, for a moment. And then decided against it. After all, this was still just a match in an Arena. Nothing is on the line. No need to get truly serious...This flimsy straight-sword would have to do. 

 

His horn began to glow again, at the ready for a defense, against whatever attack she was preparing...

 

"...Would you consider me...Helping train you, after this bout, youngling?" He asked, keeping his sword at the ready. "After all, your poise is unbalanced. Your style, far too reckless. And your magic, could be improved...Your good. But you can be so much greater..."

[TerminalObsession 250]

@@P-Jay,

 

Iron continued to glare at him. "The more you let pain get to you, the more pain you get," she said. "Although that was still a bit of an ow." She let the blades hovering in front of her inch closer. "I've had plenty of dislocations before. As it turns out, talons are highly suited for that sort of thing."

 

Her eye flicked over the purple aura surrounding Hiero's sword for a moment. And a smirk slowly crossed her face.

 

Abruptly, like lights flicking out, her swords vanished. The aura around her horn didn't, however, as she started moving in another headlong charge. The glow around her horn seemed to stretch, its edges hardening, as another of the conjured blades projected directly from her horn, extending it to five or six times its natural length. Twisting and lowering her head, Ironblade brought the new blade underneath the edge of Hiero's sword.

 

As a particularly bright pulse of red light traveled up its length, Iron jerked her head up. The blade knocked Hiero's sword aside, ringing like a large bell. Iron reared on her hindlegs using the momentum of her swipe, jerking her head back to send her horn-blade straight at Hiero's throat.

 

It missed by a good two hooves. 

 

Iron cursed under her breath as she jumped off of the ground, moving to the side. As she passed, her blade extended in length until it was long enough to slash Hiero's throat.

[P-Jay 1,987]

Iron continued to glare at him. "The more you let pain get to you, the more pain you get," she said. "Although that was still a bit of an ow." She let the blades hovering in front of her inch closer. "I've had plenty of dislocations before. As it turns out, talons are highly suited for that sort of thing."

 

Her eye flicked over the purple aura surrounding Hiero's sword for a moment. And a smirk slowly crossed her face.

 

Abruptly, like lights flicking out, her swords vanished. The aura around her horn didn't, however, as she started moving in another headlong charge. The glow around her horn seemed to stretch, its edges hardening, as another of the conjured blades projected directly from her horn, extending it to five or six times its natural length. Twisting and lowering her head, Ironblade brought the new blade underneath the edge of Hiero's sword.

 

As a particularly bright pulse of red light traveled up its length, Iron jerked her head up. The blade knocked Hiero's sword aside, ringing like a large bell. Iron reared on her hindlegs using the momentum of her swipe, jerking her head back to send her horn-blade straight at Hiero's throat.

 

It missed by a good two hooves. 

 

Iron cursed under her breath as she jumped off of the ground, moving to the side. As she passed, her blade extended in length until it was long enough to slash Hiero's throat.

 

He frowned. "...Pain is one thing...Damage is another. You'd be wise to keep that in mind--" his sentence was broken off, as she began to charge, the elongated sword shooting towards him. He had barely taken a step back, before the tip of the blade had wedged itself under his own sword, twisting it out of his hold, into the sky. Narrowing his gaze further, when she blindly attempted to attack again, the clean miss almost leaving her wide open...

 

Disarmed, he wasn't sure how to react, to Ironblade's attacks, now. There was that magic, but the magic only worked once he had a weapon to channel it through. His own magic, while refined to a point of the highest magi, remained effective only when he was against enemies of the animalistic variety. 

 

...Then again...Ironblade was a rather...Reckless, but powerful, foe. Perhaps spells commonly used to dispatch manticores, and the like, would work snugly with Iron's character.

 

His hoof itched towards the other, sheathed blade...But hesitated. 

 

He still didn't need it.

 

After all, he knew how to deal with an attack like this.

 

Ducking, and then leaping, as her blade sideways connected with the earth, Ironblade would only see dust...Until a moving shadow, within the dust-cloud, began to sprint towards her...

 

...Running atop the conjured sword, his horn beginning to glow with a golden light. A small, knowing smile stretched over his face...Whatever spell he was getting ready to use, would surely be unleashed, once he had traveled along the entire length...

[TerminalObsession 250]

@@P-Jay,

 

Iron's eye widened as Hiero ran along her sword. Quickly, without wasting time on thought, she let go of the tight control she had on the magic, breaking the bonds that held it in the shape of a sword. She prepared herself mentally.

 

The sword exploded in a blast of pure energy, a flare of light and heat that singed the fur on Hiero's barrel and flung him backwards, though not very far. It blew Iron back, too, though she turned the motion into a roll. Her horn trailed streamers of light and a trail of sparks that followed her movement as she got her power under control. Black marks marred Iron's mane and face when she stood back up, and smoke coiled from the jagged, broken tip of her horn. "I'm sure I'll be curling into a ball and swearing a lot once this is done," she rasped, "but winning comes first. Also, ow." 

 

An itch in her flank directed Ironblade's eyes upward to Hiero's still-airborne sword. A smile, almost a mirror of Hiero's, crossed her face. The red light of telekinesis surrounded the blade as it fell, though Iron allowed it to almost hit the ground before picking it up. She swung the blade back and forth before setting it between her jaws, letting her hornlight die down. She resisted the urge to rub a hoof on her forehead. She had more important things to worry about, after all, and an impending headache shouldn't have slowed her down. In fact, now that Iron thought about it, her shoulder hurt more.

 

Well, buck, she thought. With a shake of her head, she charged once again, sword in mouth, holding it out to swipe him.

[Hazard Time 1,127]

@

 

Under the cover of the fog, Carnelian knew that she could do what she want.  She might be as blind as Raze was right now, but she could still hear him and his heart beat.  Careful not to fall off the edge, she skirted around him towards what she believed to be his side, raising her rapier leg and charging forward, intent on skewering him.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Hazard Time

[Jack Baker 698]

@Hazard Time

Raze's ears heard something whiz past him, then going towards him. He turned to see the baroness coming quickly toward him, and he responded by quickly stepping to the side, then back, still keeping a firm grip on the katana.

 

Rapiers... he thought. In a fight, they're superior over katanas due to their reach... but they're predictable, and pretty easy to parry. I'll just use that, then...

 

He remained stock still again, trying to gauge his opponents position.

[Hazard Time 1,127]

@

 

Suddenly, the heartbeat moved, and Carnelian found her rapier bare.  They were certainly equal in speed, that much she gathered, but he couldn't dodge forever.

 

Winding back her leg, she twirled to her right, her blood blade singing as it rushed towards Raze's throat.

[Jack Baker 698]

@Hazard Time

Now! Raze thought as he drew his katana from the sheath, flicking it diagonally. The blade clanged against the blade of the rapier, parrying it and deflecting it to the side. He stepped back once more, and quickly resheathed the katana, then came in quickly, drawing it again in a horizontal slash.

[Not Yellow Diamond 925]

@@Fractured, @@PonyOfWar,

 

Night Tracer wound his foreleg back, and narrowed his eyes at a third story window; his tongue hung out of his mouth as he concentrated. He took a breath, his heart thumping. He closed his eyes, and wished on Luna's name. "I got this." he muttered.

 

"No you don't." 

 

Night Tracer glared out of the corner of his eyes. Cadence returned his icy stare mockingly. Night rolled his eyes, and turned back to the window, while her expression turned cheery; her eyes beaming with innocence and her grin stretching with accomplishment, as she relinquished a giggle. "Would you hush." 

 

"Would you just throw the damn rock." she answered, standing on the tips of her hooves. 

 

At this rate, Night was going to roll his eyes out of his sockets. He narrowed his target again, and pulled back his leg again, feeling the stone as best he could. Sure he was going to ace his throw, he began his motion, only to be interrupted. "Are you guys at all--"

 

Night tossed his stone. Thud. It collided with the shudder left of the window. He growled, "Dammit, Shining!"

 

"Hey, don't blame him," Cadence jumped, "it's not his fault you suck."

 

"I don't suck--"

 

"Then why didn't that rock hit the window--"

 

"Because he interrupted me!"

 

Cadence waved her hoof. "Excuses, excuses." Night groused, and considered the ground for another decent rock, rewarding Cadence with another accomplished smile-giggle combo. "Hun, what were you saying?"

 

Shining was hardly paying attention, scratching his head as he scanned the courtyard. "Are you at all concerned my guards let three ponies break into the Royal Headquarters and have done nothing about it?"

 

Cadence balanced the idea in her head for a moment. "That's...worrying." she said, her eyes widening. 

 

"Isn't it?" he affirmed, hoof tapping his chin in thought, interjected by the thud of a stone. 

 

Cadence spun herself around and pitifully laid her eyes on Night Tracer. "Oh, sweetheart, miss again?"

 

"Oh shut up. It's harder than it looks. You try."

 

"I would. But I'm not."

 

"If it's so easy, why won't you?"

 

"To spite you." She donned her signature grin, followed by her coupling chuckle. Night puffed out his cheeks, and exhaled, scanning the ground for another good stone. "So, when you find a stone, and hit the window, what are you expecting to happen?" Night didn't answer, and Cadence raised a brow, "you don't know, do you?" Night assumed his posistion as a mute, and plucked a rock off the ground. He flung it up hitting the castle wall with a resounding thud of pitiful failure. 

 

"Still low." 

 

"Yeah, I know it's low." he answered, annoyance very clear in his voice.

 

"Look at the bright side," she paused, "with all the stones here, there's no way you miss the window every time." 

 

Night sighed, as he chucked another stone towards the window. This one on target--or would have been, if it didn't hit a passing pigeon. "Oh fucking come on--"

 

Cadence covered his maw. She stood head by head with him, staring at the window like an afraid teen. "Hey, are you trying to wake her up?" Cadence hissed in a quiet voice. 

 

Night deadpanned at the side of her face pressed to his cheek. "Yes. I am."

 

"Wait a second," Cadence pulled away to lock eyes with him once more, "why the hell don't you just yell?"

 

"Then it'd be weird." he defended. 

 

Cadence frowned. "Yes. That would be weird." Night nodded in response, and her hoof promptly collided with her tensed forehead. 

 

Shining, not paying attention to either of them, regarded the area, rambling to himself. "I mean...I know our royal guard isn't the best but in broad daylight? Three ponies obviously broke through the front gate with garden trimmers. I don't understand how no one has done anything and," he saw two guards out of the corner of his eye, approaching, "oh, there we go, they'll wait, what are they doing?"

 

He squinted. Two guards leaned up against a garden fountain, and sunk to the ground. They chatted a moment, before one of them pulled out a mysterious silver object. He brought it to his mouth and out came a cloud of mist. "Are they... are they vaping?" his jaw fell agape then took a gander at the sun, "it's not break. It's mid-afternoon. And they're here, vaping. What in..." Shining's confusion slowly dissipated. Anger and embarassment took its place. "I'll be right back..." he trotted off, chest out and head high as the not quite cotton-candy colored duo bantered. 

 

"How're you supposed to know it won't work?" Night shouted.

 

"I'm the Princess of Love, I think I'd know a thing or too about love." 

 

"We're not in love." 

 

"Says Romeo throwing sticks in the window."

 

"Rocks at a window!"

 

"So technical." Cadence crossed her forelegs and plopped herself on the grass. She looked around and a sudden thought occured to her. "Hey, where'd Shining go?"

 

Night shrugged, and hurled another rock to the window; it landed on the sill. "Oh. Almost." 

 

Cadence swiveled her head back to Night Tracer, and asked a question. "So what exactly happened?"

 

"Didn't I tell you this?" he answered, focused on the other piece of hard earth he was clawing at.

 

"No. Actually."

 

"Oh," his face flushed a shade brighter, "well we spent a night on a um, hoofball stadium?--"

 

"The fighter's Arena? The biggest thing in all of Equestria right now?"

 

"Yes that. Well, I was somewhere over the announcer's box, um...not crying my eyes out, and she came up and noticed that I, uh, wasn't crying my eyes out...so we got to talking about the moon, the stars, and one thing led to another, and she um..." he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, a droplet of sweat trickling from his maneline as Cadence waited in suspenseful silence, "kisseed me." He coughed to cover it.

 

"Wait, what? Auntie kissed you?" Cadence's eyelids flittered in astonishment. "I mean. You're a solid six, seven at best, but I thougt you were--" 

 

"Cadence, I'm being serious." He faced her to show his expression, eyes dropping and mouth frowning. Then he faced away, to prod the stones at the base of the castle wall again. 

 

She bit her lip, and opened her mouth to snap it shut again. "Sorry," she said, "just the whole time I've known you...I haven't really seen you like...this." He nodded in acceptance. "Wait, this was six months ago? What happened?" 

 

He exhaled. "Long story short, Nightmare Moon threatened me, and I tucked my tail between my legs and ran like a feeble colt. She said if I stayed I could hurt her, again. So, I ran. I went back home, found no one was there...sat by myself, thought for a while and," he gulped, "realized what if I'd been hurting her more doing what I did? I led her on, then disappeared like--according to Nightmare Moon--every stallion she'd ever known." His heart wrenched, and he tatsted metallic as the words exited his mouth. He cleared his throat and proceeded on.

 

"Long story short, I've been left alone before, in circumstances no one really knows, nor will they ever. It's painful. Believe me. I'm not sure if you've ever been in my position, but the world keeps going and going, but you're sitting there, alone, irrelevant, insginifcant, and you realize the world doesn't revolve around you. It never did, and never will. When you're so small that's heart-breaking, so demoralizing to hear, 'you don't matter.' If you were to go to sleep tonight and never wake up the next the world would keep moving without you. Think about it...

 

"Through rose-tinted glasses, all the red in the world looks normal. Same for blue, or green. And those glasses are perspective. It's when you finally see the world through clear glasses, for what it is, you realize... You realize you won't," he bit his lip, and took a heavy breath, "I left her alone, Cadence." He looked, at her, his eyes glossed with wet sorrow. "I left her, and she may have moved on, but I didn't. And I could never forgive myself if I never came back. I don't know if it's love, but I know my heart yearns to make this right. And I care about her, and she obviously cared about me...more than I admitted to myself." He hung his head, and stared sightlessly at the grass blades beneath his hooves. 

Cadence couldn't break her gaze. She felt sympathy, but had no idea what to say. Truth be told, she was quite stunned. She remembered Chrysalis, and being trapped in the caverns beneath Canterlot. How dark it was. How empty it was. How cold it was. And the only light in the entire cave system was... hers. Only hers. She shuddered, refocusing on the situation at hoof. "Night?"

 

He lifted his leaky orbs, so he could barely meet the brim of her eyes, "yeah?" he managed. 

 

She scooted close to him. "Do you like cliches?"

 

"Hate 'em."

 

"Well, you might like this one," she pressed a hoof on his chest and whispered, "it's better to have loved and lost, then never to have loved at all." His eyes crawled to meet hers. Her amethyst eyes wide, and joyful as usual. She giggled and grinned, and he embraced her tightly. And with a flash of her horn, he was in Luna's room, latched around nothing. 

 

"Umph." he collapsed to the floor. He peered upwards, and there was Luna, asleep. He trotted towards the window and en route, a rock came flying through, shattering the window pane. He leapt back, startled. He rushed to the window, and looked down to see Cadence gleaming. 

 

"There's some hurry up motivation," she yelled, "also, that's how you throw a bucking rock. Magic rules, bitches!" Night couldn't help but grin. He closed his eyes and took a final deep breath. No turning back now. 

Edited July 5, 2016 by Tacoma

[Denim&Venöm 19,114]

@@Fractured, 

 

A sonic boom could be heard above the city. Any detection spells or scanning equipment would find an object landing within the city limits at mach 3, trajectory being the arena.

 

The sliding doors of the arena foyer opened up. Sounds of metal hoof steps on granite tile echoed. Amer colored LED optics scanned the area, before focusing on the life form before them. The Equine shaped amalgamation of wires & steel marched forward to the reception desk.

 

"I presume this is the arena registry?" The machine inquired in a feminine, yet cybernetically distorted & pitched voice, one that a careful ear might find sounded familiar, almost like a certain princesses's. 

[PonyOfWar 126]

@@Tacoma,

 

 

War was in bed and was having a hard time getting to sleep considering how new to this kingdom he and his brothers were. He wasn’t yet comfortable enough to allow himself to slip into unconscious inside a building full of strangers. Yeah, it was the middle of the day but the excitement of the move had left him worn and that didn’t happen often. He had told his comrades to try and rest up as well and watched as they had disappeared into their temporary residence, of course, that didn’t mean any of them actually went to sleep. He had twisted and turned for hours and at last gave up; he wondered if any of his brothers were having as much trouble but thought it was best not to disturb them. If they had managed to get to sleep he didn’t wish to be the one to wake them, he would only have more trouble on his hooves.

 

Rather War wondered if it would be alright for him to venture out into the training area, he had nothing better to do and wasn’t going to get his much-needed rest anytime soon. He rose up and stretched his appendages which had grown stiff from lying for so long, he climbed out of the bed and trotted over to a chest at the end of the bed he opened it to find his battle armor. Quickly dressing he  trotted out of the building that he and his brothers had been residing in to head for the castle. He wished to see how the guards trained and what their regiment was like in order to compare it to his own. While trotting up to it there didn't seem to be many ponies around, he wondered where the guards had gotten off to? If he was lucky maybe the were training and would allow him to attend. Since there was so little guards about this day no pony protested as he trotted inside. He could understand their absence, the princesses were alicorns after all and could defend themselves against anypony that was foolish enough to assault them. War often wondered what the guards purpose was, based on what he had learned they didn't do much of anything but hang around the castle and were not very useful in a crisis. Then after the assault on his compound he had a personal vendetta against the royal guard.

 

The castle was like a maze and he had only been in town a couple of days and had only visited the castle once which left him wondering where the heck he should go. Of course being a Pegasus he could just find a window, hop out and fly around for an aerial view to easily find the training ground but what was there to learn from that experience? No, he planned to stick to his hooves and learn his way about the castle even if they wouldn’t be there long. If he wished to cheaply fly to the barracks he would have from outdoors but then he wouldn't have an excuse for exploring the castle. Besides you never know when something like being familiar with the layout of the castle would come in handy.

 

The large red pony trotted around the castle becoming lost; sure he could ask a servant but again didn’t wish to do that. He needed to look out for himself and because of the glances they were giving him; he didn’t wish to scare any pony by approaching them. As he traveled the castle he ended up in a grand hallway alone, using the word grand because this one was far more decorative than others in the castle though none lacked a nice drape or sculpture of the sun or moon. But it was there he heard a crash, it sounded like glass shattering on the other side of the door he had been passing.  He paused and looked at the door, could it be a thief? The princesses were currently in the castle so it could be anything. He looked up and down the hall to see if any guards were nearby and there didn't seem to be a servant of any kind for that matter. Of course, they wouldn’t be around if anything was to actually happen seemed the rumors he had heard about them were true.

 

War gritted his teeth; he was dressed for combat therefore if it proved to be some assassin or something he was ready, deciding to check for himself, he put on a serious expression and flung open the door, then froze. This was Princess Luna’s room and there she was asleep in her bed. His eyes left her to look at the hole in the window and then at the nervous looking blue Pegasus. He blinked a few times studying the Stallion; he wasn’t very big and mostly blue and black. War looked over his cutie mark and was sure that was no cutie mark of a killer or thief for that matter. Based on how nervous he looked and his lack of equipment he didn’t believe he was up to no good…or at least not the villainous type, perhaps the perverted type. The hole in the window did seem much too small to be his entrance so it did pose the question of how exactly he got in there?

 

Whoever he was War really didn’t need to worry about it, Luna was stirring in her bed and would undoubtedly wake with this Pegasus in her chambers. She was an Alicorn Princess, she could handle herself. “Excuse me,” he murmured and backed out of the room closing the door behind him. Rather than leaving it to that and heading on out to practice, he stayed outside the door not wanting to leave the princess if she did end up needing something. He became determined to stay until a guard or two passed so that he could relay what was happening. He strained his ears to listen in for anything going on in that room in case something sounded off he would be ready to leap in and give aid.

Edited July 5, 2016 by PonyOfWar