Tales of the Battle Foals

by Sirdubya


Duel

Fire Fight immediately tossed Shadow Shroud’s kunai back to her as they all prepared for a fight. “Air Slash, get back!” he commanded. Air Slash ascended and flew behind the group just as a small mob of the dogs burst into the isolated chamber.

“Say! What gives!? Where did you lot come from?” one of them shouted.

Fire Fight raised his head. “We’re here to help Air Slash! Why were you holding him captive?” he demanded.

“Oh, it ain’t necessarily him we care about. We just wanted his swords, see? We just knew that the rest o’ those bloody Bladerunners would come lookin’ for one o’ their tykes, so we kept him as leverage. Now would ya kindly put him back in his cell? The Diamond Dogs demand it!” the dog answered.

Spiral Galaxy lit her horn. “Come and get him!” she taunted.

“Or let us sing y’all one helluva lullaby! I got just the instruments right!” Turf War taunted as he banged his sign against his shield.

“HEHEHEHEHE! Either way’s fine with me!” one of the other dogs shouted. They charged the foals.

Spiral Galaxy, having her magic diminished by not having direct access to the stars, used her controlled magic to create a small gravity field around the dogs that severely slowed them down. Fire Fight jumped up and kicked a short series of fire discs at them in response. Staggered by the bursting blaze; the dogs were left vulnerable enough for Spiral to release her grip and let the other three beat them down one by one with brute force and technique.

“Somepony put a damn leash or a bell or somethin’ on d’ese dogs!” Turf War taunted.

They all rushed out of the prison room and into the tunnels. Fire Fight looked up at Air Slash. “Air Slash, do you know where they’re keeping your swords?” he asked him.

“I’m afraid I don’t know for sure, but I suspect they’re using them in the main chamber. I remember passing through there when I was restrained. These stupid mutts didn’t even think to obscure my vision! Anyway, there was a lot of tightly packed iron ore and even some diamonds that even these experienced burrowers couldn’t dig out. What makes them think my swords will be able to remove is beyond me, but regardless, I intend to retrieve them!” Air Slash explained. “I remember the path from here. Follow me!”

“Let me take the front with you. I fight unarmed, so I can protect if need be. Turf War and Shadow Shroud, cover Spiral in case she needs to cast another cosmo spell!” Fire Fight ordered. They all agreed.

Despite choosing to trust her friend’s words, Shadow Shroud couldn’t help but to shoot a couple nasty glares towards Air Slash. Nevertheless, she and Turf War maintained their position with Spiral Galaxy as she managed to create more little gravity fields and even fire short bolts of star magic!........Granted, they were still dangerously destructive. Fire Fight continued to follow Air Slash at his side despite not being airborne and held nothing back as he punched, kicked, combo’d and burned through the pack of Diamond Dogs that turned out to be bigger than anticipated; all the while, Air Slash found himself impressed at their prowess as warriors, but he still shot glares every now and then at Shadow Shroud.

At last they reached the main chamber. Just as Air Slash said, it was packed full of ore that had yet to be dug out. The remaining dogs were struggling to claw them out even if some of them had proper digging tools. Perhaps they really were stupid and just weren’t using them correctly? Either way, they spotted the boss wielding Air Slash’s swords. He began cutting away at the ore and much to their surprise, it was actually slightly giving way!

Air Slash wanted to retrieve his swords before these dogs could defile his clans mine anymore. He flew into main chamber. “RELINGQUISH MY BLADES THIS INSTANT!!” he shouted.

The dog boss looked up in shock. “What the- How’d you get out!?”

Fire Fight, Turf War and Spiral Galaxy stepped out while Shadow Shroud leapt into the dark. “We helped him out!” Fire Fight declared.

“You’re trespassing here! This place belongs to the Bladerunners! You need to leave now and give back Air Slash’s swords!” Spiral said.

Just then, a massive horde of dogs came out of nearly every tunnel leading into the chamber and formed around their boss. “Heh heh heh. Or what?” the boss taunted.

Turf War poised his armaments and smirked. “I’s kinda hopin’ you’d ask dat!” he said. “IT’S WAR, Y’ALL!”

Fire Fight and Spiral Galaxy lit their horns as the former jumped with Turf War into the fray while the latter began charging her cosmo magic. Dogs in the back lines further away from the boss began dropping unconscious spontaneously thanks to a certain ninja filly.

Spiral Galaxy levitated into the air and formed another vertical mini galaxy around herself. Several of the stars shined brighter than the others and formed a pyramid of light in front of her. The tip shook furiously as it shined, charging with cosmic destruction. She fired it as a continuous laser that wasn’t as powerful as the last one, but was much more controlled. She blew the front lines of the dogs rushing towards the colts away and caused the dogs behind them to step back and cower.

Turf War held out his Stop sign flat on the ground and looked at Fire Fight. “Yo, mah boy!” he shouted.

Fire Fight smirked and jumped onto the sign. Turf War launched him high into the air and Fire Fight kicked a flurry of fire discs downward into the pack of dogs. Some of the dogs weren’t wavered by the blaze and managed to dodge or take the heat. Fire Fight continuously somersaulted as he fell to help generate heat. He hit the ground with a little flare, but released his built-up heat and caused an explosion that sent all the dogs trying to….well dogpile him flying in all direction.

Turf War shield-rammed into a dog that was charging him, causing the mutt to stagger and leave Turf War an opening to easily knock him out with a quick slam to the temple with the blunt side of his sign. Not even a second later did a few more dogs pounce over their fallen comrade and rush the ghetto colt. Turf War used the edge of his side to slice across their faces and leave nasty gashes across their noses and upper lips that hurt like the dickens! The dogs curled up and held their injured faces. A much bigger dog tried to belly flop on top of Turf War, but he quickly jabbed the large canine in his collar and jumped back to avoid his crushing body. The crippled dog struggled to breathe having his windpipes stressed. One by one, few by few, Turf War just kept beating back every dog that tried to charge him with brute force and tactful use of his unorthodox weaponry. All but one of the pack that had charged him had fallen. The last remaining dog wielded a shovel and swung at him. Turf War parried with a hard swing of his sign. The two continued to parry back and forth for a solid minute, their metal scraps clanging violently. Turf War then managed to block a hard downward swing, but the massive dog pressed his shovel hard against the trash lid. The two locked fierce eyes in their game of reverse tug-of-war; the dog was advancing to hard for Turf War to safely take any short opportunities. A burst of magic suddenly hit the massive mutt and sent him flying. He hit the wall hard enough to be knocked out.

Turf War looked back to see Spiral Galaxy give him a reassuring wink. He smiled proudly. “Yo! Peace on dat, homegirl!” he said.

Spiral giggled. “This is fun!” she cheered. She intensified her cosmic field and began firing off more nova blasts with discretion to the cave structure so as not to cause a cave-in. She took short breaks in between every few burst of shots so as to not shatter her psyche. Charging dogs couldn’t touch her as they’d be pushed away by the orbital field around her, and even if they did manage to get close, Shadow Shroud would finish them off. All the while, Spiral was having a blast…..or about twenty per second.

Within the smoldering crater he’d created, Fire Fight fought back whatever dogs had given up on the other three foals and decided to go for him. He drove back wider crowds by using his horn like a flamethrower. He could only focus enough to spray quick wakes of fire, but it did the trick. One big guy however managed to brave through the blaze and swing his pickaxe toward Fire Fight’s temple. Fire Fight managed to backflip right over the swinging mining tool and kick the dogs teeth in the process. The shock of losing some teeth caused the big mutt to throw his pickaxe right into another dog that about to charge him. Fire Fight then uppercut the big guy and sent him upward and then finished him off by rocketing himself into the dogs abdomen, skewering him with his horn and letting loose a built up blast of fire that sent him to kingdom come. Fire Fight fell right back to his feet.

All the while, Air Slash looked on in awe of the sheer skill that these complete strangers who rescued him possessed. Of course, he thought little of Shadow Shroud, but seeing Fire Fight, Turf War and Spiral Galaxy fight their foes with such prowess despite not being official ‘warriors’ impressed the little samurai. It was then that he noticed the dog boss charging towards Fire Fight with the katanas in paw. “Look out!” he shouted.

Fire Fight turned around just in time to see the sky-cleaving steel blades slicing towards him. He would have been deli meat had a sudden flurry of kunai not struck the big dogs wrists and shoulders, staggering him, but managing to hang on the blades. Shadow Shroud then immediately appeared at his side.

“Try to be a little more careful, won’t you? I doubt your ore would be very precious” she sneered as she deviously smiled.

Fire Fight rolled his eyes. “I’ll just take that as a weird compliment and say ‘thanks’.” He said.

Spiral Galaxy had to rest her mind from firing off so much cosmic destruction, so Turf War charged towards the big dog just as he shook the kunai out of his body and shield-rammed him in the face. This did little to faze the dog as Turf War just bounced off of him. Shadow Shroud suddenly noticed that Spiral Galaxy was about to be overrun by dogs and went to her aid. Air Slash flew past her eager to retrieve his swords; the two shot quick glares at one another as they did.

“Don’t recall orderin’ a face lift, brat!” the dog boss shouted. He slashed one sword towards Turf War. Turf War put up his shield. The sword quickly sliced and it was a second later that Turf War saw half of his trash can shield slide right off.

He looked down at in horror. “Ah, S***!” he exclaimed. He then swung his sign at the dog, but the dog just sliced the pole clean in half and the sign went flying. “ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW!?” he shouted. He was beginning to panic.

The dog boss laughed hysterically. “That’s what happens when you fight with little kids toys!” he taunted.

Turf War glared at him viciously as he tried to figure how to approach the situation. Fire Fight had to make a careful decision after seeing just how sharp those blades were; one wrong move too slow or too careless and he’d suffer the same fate as Turf War’s armaments.

“You vile, rabid mutt! I’ll make you choke for this!” Air Slash proclaimed as he arrived to the other colts side.

The dog boss just smiled maliciously as he poised his captive swords. “Well? Do it already!” he taunted.

The colts braced themselves for a potential blood bath when Spiral Galaxy, who’d just regained her full senses, charged a nova blast and fired it right into the big dogs chest. He was blown back and the swords were knocked out of his paws. Air Slash quickly flew up and caught them.

As Air Slash caught his precious blades, he wielded and twirled them viciously in his hooves like an expert samurai. The dog boss, who’d been knocked into a wall, got up to notice Air Slash with his swords and panicked as did his underlings.

Air Slash pointed one of his swords at the boss. “You’ve brewed a mighty storm, my friend…” he growled. “One that will BE YOUR UNDOING!” he shot down towards the dog boss “HYAAAAAAAAA!”

The dog boss quickly reached for two nearby shovels and swung one just as Air Slash was upon him. Air Slash flew right over it and slashed at the shovel countless times within seconds, slicing it into bits. The boss swung one downward quickly and Air Slash blocked it without even turning his body. He then parried it downward as he turned around and swung his other sword into the dogs face, slicing his forehead and turning once more to stab it into his shoulder. He fell back in agony.

Just then, a horde of dogs rushed toward their boss’s aid and Air Slash charged them. “I’M ENDING THIS!” he bellowed.

Some had weapons that Air Slash easily blocked and parried before chopping into bits. One by one, each dog was slashed furiously be it with well-coordinated series of slices forehand and backhand alike. All the while, the other foals save for Shadow Shroud looked on in awe as Air Slash wielded his swords like scalpels, vicious scalpels that seemed to shred even the air around his foes into pieces. His skill and ferocity equated with Fire Fights but with swords.

Finally, only a small handful of dogs hadn’t ran for the hills and charged the young swordspony. Air Slash charged them and spun around continuously through the small pack with his swords held out at each side. He came out the other side and stopped just as each dog fell down gravely injured from the tornado of slashes they’d just braved. Air Slash turned around and glared at them as he pointed his swords at them. “Go back to your kennels!” he said. The remaining dogs and their boss ran out of the mine without hesitation.


Air Slash floated back down to the ground. He was about to sheathe his swords when he sensed a flurry of shuriken flying towards him and swatted them away with his swords. Startled, Fire Fight, Turf War and Spiral Galaxy suddenly noticed Shadow Shroud charging Air Slash wielding a kunai. She jumped towards him and the two struck each other’s weapons furiously. Shadow Shroud suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke.

“Shroud, what are you doing!?” Fire Fight exclaimed.

Air Slash quickly sensed that she was above him and swung his sword and managed to parry her kunai as it slid along the blade of his sword downward with her. She jumped back and used her cloning technique. “Taking down my enemy!” she hissed.

The multitude of illusory copies along with the real Shadow Shroud assaulted Air Slash as he soared around the cavern dispatching each one. “Show yourself, you devil!” he shouted. He landed in the center of the chamber as Shadow Shroud ran up from behind and lunged with her kunai at him. He blocked as she locked both blades and eyes with him.

“Peekaboo!” she whispered.

A hack and slash fest ensued between the ninja and samurai. Their precision and technique surpassed anything the other three foals had seen in any kung fu movie. He’d slash, she vanish and suddenly strike from behind him not a second later, he’d parry and assault her with a combo of slashes that she managed to completely dodge just at the right instant.

Finally, Spiral Galaxy mustered the mind power to force a gravity field on the two combatants that forced them downward hard enough that their duel was halted. “Stop, you two!” she said.

Air Slash and Shadow Shroud were too weighed down by the gravity to even stand. “Nnnrgh….Rrrrrrggghh! Release…u-us!” Air Slash stuttered.

“Spiral!.....Nnnrrrgh….Let….me go!” Shadow Shroud plead.

“Only if you two promise to stop.” Spiral said.

“Our….showdown….ngh!...does not concern you!” Shadow Shroud said.

“No, Shroud. It does. You’re a part of us. You’re my friend. You’re our friend! I don’t know what the apparent bad blood between your families is, but if we’re going to complete our mission, even this can’t be a problem.” Fire Fight said.

Shadow Shroud glared at her fiery friend. How dare he try to tell her who her enemies are!? Still….she had indeed made a sort of pact with Fire Fight. Even if a pony she considered to be her mortal nemesis was right there, her priority was helping her friend. Why? Fire Fight wasn’t quite sure, but she had made it clear that she was his friend. “….Very well….” She muttered.

“I…submit as well….” Air Slash said.

Spiral released her grip on the combatants and Fire Fight walked between them. He helped up Shadow Shroud, but she quickly drew her hoof back angrily and glared at him as she removed her mask. Meanwhile, Spiral Galaxy helped up Air Slash, who sheathed his swords in the X-shaped scabbard he’d recovered in the fight against the dogs.

“I don’t understand, Fire Fight. What ‘mission’ could you possibly be on with this Shadewalker?” Air Slash inquired.

Fire Fight started from the top about his history in Manehatten and what happened in Ponyville. He then explained how he encountered Shadow Shroud and started their mission together. Turf War and Spiral Galaxy explained how the two rescued them and why they ran away and how they eventually ended up here.

“I….see……” Air Slash said. “So you truly believe that you don’t belong in the very land that was established for our people? Do you know how mad that sounds? Perhaps this creature of the night poisoned your mind in your distressed state!” He glared at Shadow Shroud. “And what is this business about him ‘catching your interest’, hmm? Why do you find this innocent colt so fascinating?” he growled.

“I have nothing to answer to you, Bladerunner! You could never hope to understand the will of my clan and how we go about protecting and preserving the land” Shadow Shroud hissed.

“Enough! Both of you!” Fire Fight commanded. The two complied. “Air Slash, look, I know it all sounds crazy, but yes. I firmly believe that Equestria just won’t accommodate foals who are growing with talents that Equestria as a whole looks down on. When was the last time we needed fighting skills? The Elements of Harmony have only ever talked their opponents down or just blasted them with non-lethal magic that just….I don’t know, rainbow and sunshined them into submission or…something. Anyway, what’ll happen when we fight a foe that won’t listen to reason, or won’t be affected by the Elements? What then? With nopony skilled enough to fight those foes, we’re done for! And Equestria just refuses to realize that! So when they see a foal that likes to beat things up, they label him or her as a problem that needs to be fixed. See what I’m saying?”

Air Slash drew one of his swords. “What do you think my clan is preparing for? The ultimate hardcore cooking contest? We forge our weapons for a reason, you know, and that’s the very scenario you just described. My family practices the art of war so that we may be prepared for it. When the time comes, ponies like you and I will be able to shine and defend the land as needed.” He argued.

Fire Fight shook his head. “But that time is far from here! And foals like us still live in fear of our peers, even our own parents sometimes! I want to create a place where they can nurture their skills and live happily no matter who they are! And I don’t want to make it into some clan family that follows some strict code or something; I want to create a place where they can feel safe, wanted, at peace! Because right now, they need it!” he argued.

Air Slash sheathed his sword. “You’re even more of a fool than I’d realized. First you befriend a Shadewalker, then go on some big kidnapping spree labeled as a crusade to save ‘lost foals’. What bologna! You talk about making Equestria better even though you’re running away from it. You seem to have your goals confused, friend.” He argued.

“Fire Fight didn’t kidnap us, Air Slash. We left on our own terms. We decided to go with Fire Fight. He never forced us!” Spiral Galaxy said.

“Fo’ real, homie. An’ b’fore you start talkin’ ‘bout all dat ‘poisonin’ our minds’ stuff, let me ask you somethin’: If you was in one o’ our shoes and said ‘hell no!’, why’d you say it? You either do or you don’t for one reason or another.” Turf War inquired.

“Hmph! Simple. Because I’d put it on good faith that my talent would one day serve me well enough to make everypony realize just how valuable I was as a fighter.” Air Slash answered.

“Well, I wish I could have your optimism, Air Slash, but I’ve endured too much to know that that’ll just never happen. That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing. I am making Equestria better by running away from it, because they won’t nurture my talents that we indeed just might use to save it. What good is having skill if you can never use it?” Fire Fight said.

Those last words seemed to affect Air Slash in some way. Fire Fight wasn’t sure how, but Air Slash seemed visibly shaken by the notion he’d brought up. Just before he could answer though, they heard somepony calling from within the caverns.

“Air Slash!? Where are you, boy?”