Equestrian Throwdown

by Hex Mark

The Fall of Skylark?

"Ladies and Gentlecolts! Once again it seems Taurus and Skylark have teamed up. First they united in the face of Onyx Heart's displacer beast, now they navigate the treacherous maze! I almost feel sorry for anyone unfortunate enough to run into this duo!" the announcer commented, the audience cheering. The bull glanced over at the human, who was running at an equal pace to himself.

"Hey kid." Taurus called to his compatriot, glancing over.

"Yeah." Skylark panted.

"Why are you helping me?"

"I'll be honest; because you helped me back in the Everfree. Had you not been there, I would have eventually been slaughtered by the displacer beast. It's the least I could do." Skylark replied with a smile. Left, right, left, left, right. The winding halls seemed endless, yet the duo's movements were precise, Skylark did not wish to waste a single moment as he and his comrade traversed the maze.

"This is gonna rock! Taurus is a powerhouse, and with Sky there to back him up, they can't lose! What do you think, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend, who stared intently at the duo.

"It's...interesting..." Twilight replied, not looking at Rainbow. "Those two only interacted with one another in the first challenge.." she mused, putting a hoof to her chin.Memories of the first challenge came to mind, when Skylark first debuted his Nacht Jäger. "He was willing to use it to aid Taurus...Even now, they are helping one another..." she pondered before a smile spread on her face.

"What do you think it means, Twi?" Applejack asked, and Twilight nodded, a proud and hopeful look on her face.

"Without a doubt, the Magic of Friendship has made its way here." Twilight concluded, right when Taurus and Skylark slowed down upon reaching a larger hall within the labyrinth. There were two paths, prompting the minotaur to nudge his compatriot with his arm.

"Alright, use your instincts, right or left?"

"I'd say..." Skylark sniffed a little before focusing his attention to the right passage. "Someone's already been through the right passage...Three from what I can tell." he nodded, tapping his nose. The minotaur smacked his forehead and sniffed a bit, nodding.

"One of them was overcooked." Taurus joked, only for a charred dog to smack right into his face, flopping on the ground. Half surprised, half pissed, Taurus kicked the dead dog back down the hall, cracking his knuckles. "Okay, come out here you wimp!" the bull taunted the dog-thrower.

"Here I thought it was the sight of red that pissed bulls off." a voice echoed, the source walking out of the hallway. Rajah smirked at the sight of the two. "Looks like this will be an easy win. I've already dealt with Jerky-boy and the mutt." the tiger growled softly, his eyes gleaming for a split moment.

Sweet Celena! the human thought, quickly crossing his arms in-front of his chest in the shape of an X, Rajah's foot slamming right into them at that very moment. Skidding backwards before losing his footing, the human was slammed into the wall behind him. He began to fell forward, only for the tiger to take advantage of the human's position and gravity to augment the blow from an uppercut to Skylark's gut.

"You're history, pal!" Taurus shouted at Rajah, charging in and throwing a punch. Unfortunately, Rajah had grabbed the human and put him in between himself and the bull's fist. Unable to defend himself, Skylark was punched right in the face and fell upon the floor like a rag doll, struggling to breath and coughing up blood.

"Ooooh! That's gotta hurt!" the announcer quipped, much to Trixie's amusement.

"And you thought such a lowly creature could stand up to you?" The unicorn teased her familiar, who stared intently.

"Come on, Skylark! You can do better then that!" Rainbow Dash called out while Lyra winced, watching Taurus rushing into the fray once more.

"I don't get it. Just a couple a' days ago, he was doing much better. You think the potion had a side effect?" Applejack questioned, and Twilight shook her head.

"I don't think that's it.." The purple unicorn disagreed, flashing back to when Skylark grabbed Taurus' hammer and smashed it into the displacer beast from the side. "Back in the first round, he took the beast by surprise. Just because he managed to help a minotaur doesn't mean he's as strong as one." Twilight reasoned, but then closed her eyes for a brief moment, to think about all of this. And if what Balrog said about the Nacht Jäger is correct...Why would Skylark be holding back at a time like this? she opened her eyes again, a little saddened by the realization. The scene would return to the ongoing fight. Rajah's eyes glinted as the bull attempted to catch him in a clothesline, the tiger ducking down, countering with an uppercut to Taurus' jaw.

Skylark's legs trembled as he finally got on his feet, the human taking a breath and clenching his teeth before running right at the tiger from behind, leaping onto his back to attempt to choke him. Unimpressed, Rajah grabbed Skylark's arm and yanked the human off of him, catching him by the ankle with a smirk. Before either Skylark or Taurus could react, Rajah began swinging the human around.

"Ah dammit!!" Skylark shouted right before he was thrown into Taurus, both of them tumbling away from their adversary.

"It's two on one, I was hoping you'd provide more of a challenge." Rajah mocked them, only to lean back against the wall with a smirk. "It's not going to be much fun if I keep coming at you...Tell you what, you two can try to figure something out

"Damn it, he's mocking us..." Skylark muttered, glaring at the predator before the minotaur nudged him as they both stood.

"Hey, got any fancy new tricks you've been saving?" Taurus asked as the two stood up.

"I doubt it'd work...But we can't take all day with this..." the human replied, his irides flickering between gold and blue before settling on gold. "My Nacht Jäger won't last forever either.." Skylark lamented before he took a breath.

"Then let's not waste anymore time! Follow my lead!" The minotaur roared, charging at Rajah once more, the human not too far behind.

"That's the spirit! Come at me with all you got!" the tiger roared with satisfaction, rushing at the two. Another glint from Rajah's eyes caught Skylark's attention before the tiger jumped over the bull just to get to the human. Caught by the throat, Skylark didn't bother to try to pull the hand off of his neck, instead trying to punch his opponent. His fist caught in the claws of the tiger, he struggled to stay conscious until Taurus back-handed Rajah with the force of a cannon ball, forcing him to relinquish his grip in order to catch himself.

"You ok?" the minotaur asked, and Skylark nodded, rubbing his throat and catching his breath.

"Yeah....and I think I have him figured." Skylark smirked, looking at Rajah, who had recovered. "You hear that, Rajah? I'm onto you!" he taunted the tiger, only earning laughter.

"Really now? Humor me." Rajah mocked him, and the human chuckled a little.

"I know that the secret to your abilities lie within your eyes." He stated bluntly, shocking both Taurus and Rajah. "Whenever you went to strike either of us, your eyes flashed for a brief moment. At first, someone would consider that a scare tactic. But given your build and confidence, you wouldn't need that." he began to summarize.

"So, what does that have to do with it?" Taurus asked, and the human glanced over with a smile.

Mana...please lend me your aid...even if it is only a little... he prayed internally as his right hand began to glow a feint blue color. "I had been wondering why you were able to react so much faster than Balrog, the current champion of these games. Your build should not normally allow that, except for one instance." he trailed off as his right hand tensed a little. "You're eyes somehow give you the ability to predict our movements, even if it is only a few seconds in advance. That would give you enough time to react with the precision that you do... But it seems you can only focus on one of us at a time, since you could not stop Taurus from sucker-punching you." he concluded.

"So you really did figure it out. I gotta say, you're a cut above humans from my world." The tiger admitted with a confident smile, only for the human to rub the back of his neck with a goofy grin.

"Well, now that you just confirmed it, I have it all figured.." he chuckled, both Rajah and Taurus giving a ridiculous slack-jawed look, their eyes blank-white.

He pulled that out of his ass?!

He bluffed me?! Rajah wondered in disbelief before shaking his head. It's ok, I still got the advantage. I'm stronger than the two and all I need to do is separate them, that way they can't surprise me again. the tiger thought before bearing his teeth with the kind of smile only a killer would have. "Do you think knowing that will let you win? All I have to do is eliminate your chance to team up on me." he taunted them, watching as Skylark charged forward, his glowing hand held back

This guy thinks he can fake me out? I can already see him stopping at the last moment and jumping back. I don't even need to- Rajah's thoughts were interrupted as the blue light in Skylark's palm exploded as he had rammed it into him. Stumbling back and covering his face, the tiger roared in pain as Skylark skidded back from the recoil, his hand scorched with a small bit of flesh blasted off. The burns and the wound slowly began to fade and patch itself respectively as the human smirked.

"I don't know what Lyra's human did, but Rajah doesn't look too happy!" the announcer commented on the scene as a chunk of the audience cheered for the team, another chunk jeering at Rajah's apparent stupidity.

"He can use magic too? Why didn't you say that before, Twilight?" Lyra asked, smiling brightly as her ears flicked.

"I did. Didn't you read the notes I gave you?" Twilight questioned curiously and Lyra simply stared blankly at her. "Nevermind..." the purple mare sighed before Spike let out a large burp accompanied by green fire, a rolled up sheet of parchment, catching it in his hands before immediately passing it to Twilight. Quickly reading the contents, a small smirk spread across Twilight's mouth as she nodded. "I'll be back soon." she told her friends, leaving in an uncharacteristically hurried manner.

"Hey Twi! Where ya goin'?" Applejack called out, quickly becoming concerned when her friend did not answer. Spike had quickly followed, and the farm pony looked to her friends. "C'mon, let's go with Twilight. Bon Bon, Lyra, can you tell us how this ends if we miss it?" she asked, and upon receiving a nod, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash and Rarity all left the stands.

"Balrog! Trixie demands you tell her what you know about this human!" Trixie commanded her familiar, who only offered a small smirk.

"Miles Skylark? Well, as you know, both him and I are from Athelina. He has no formal combat training, and his skill in magic is minimal at best. I do admit, however, that he improved in the last three Equestrian years." the monster commented, and Trixie arched her brow at him.

"And you are certain you can handle him?" the blue unicorn asked, and Balrog chuckled.

"His sister was much more stronger the day I killed her than Miles was a few days ago when we had our little skirmish....but...that's strange.." he trailed off, tilting his head. Before Trixie could ask, Balrog pointed to the human, who at this point had been separated from Taurus by a wall of fire sprung by Rajah. "He looks much...younger than he did a few days ago." he noted, prompting Trixie to curse outloud.

"Damn that Twilight Sparkle! I knew she was up to something!" she stomped the floor with her hoof, clenching her teeth.

"Calm down, Mistress. They still can't touch us with their magic, and my magic grows stronger with every familiar that is wiped out. Soon, not even they can stop me directly. And then, Equestria will recognize you're power as a unicorn!" he reassured his master, much to her satisfaction.

Falling to his knees, Skylark was riddled with cuts from Rajah's claws before he was punted down the pathway that neither party had taken. Damn it...I can't do anything...Not like this... he thought, trying to stand, only for his ankle to crack and make him fall back down to the ground. Taurus cursed the wall of flames, his ears drooping slightly when he found no way around it.

"Sorry kid..." he apologized before taking the opportunity to run, while the tiger was distracted. Watching through the flames as Taurus fled, Skylark could only smile slightly, unable to blame his compatriot one bit. He tried to back away, sliding himself whilst keeping off of his broken ankle, stopping just short of a drop. Glancing behind him, the human noticed a pit that descended into pitch black darkness. Breathing heavily, he watched as the enraged tiger approached him, standing just feet away from him before grabbing him by the collar of his outfit.

"This looks like it's the end for Skylark!" the announcer cried out dramatically, much to the dismay of Lyra.

"Come on! Come on, please!" She tried to keep herself from sobbing, and was surprised to hear Bon Bon's comment on the matter.

"You've only known him a few days, why is he so special to you?" Bon Bon asked, almost coldly, and the distressed unicorn shook her head.

"He's the truth to my research, the answer to the questions that I have...he's my human...I can't just lose him...not like this!" she nearly sobbed.

"How does it feel? To be one strike away from being killed?" Rajah asked, and Skylark snickered slightly.

"There's a saying where I come from....Although given that your world has humans, I wouldn't be surprised if you heard of it.." Skylark's eyes faded back to blue.

"Oh really? And what might that be?" he asked, staring blankly at an open palm.

"It's better to die than to be killed!" he shouted, and with a bright blue flash, Skylark had struck the tiger with a misfired magic missile, the recoil being enough to cause the human to plummet down the dark pit, having forced Rajah to let go. Quickly vanishing under the veil of darkness, the human took his key down with him.

~to be continued~