The Tale Of A Lost Wolf

by Solaris Night


Chapter 25: Test Your Might Part 2: In a Dog Fight, Every Second Counts

"Alright that's it!" Blaze shouted. The two combatants stopped their fight and a medical team ran out to tend to their wound. "Next pair, prepare yourselves."

Since Whip's and Frost's fight, not single one of the recruits displayed any formidable power, at least Trider thought so. He was bored and sleep threatened to consume him.

"What a bore." he said mid yawn. "Hey Green, when will it be my turn?"

"Not any time soon, if you continue with your attitude." the stallion said, without lifting his gaze from the notepad.

"Pfft, killjoy." Trider scoffed. Suddenly he was smacked upside his head. He looked around to see who was the one that had the balls to hit him, but no one was anywhere near him. Slowly he then turned his head to the green stallion who stood around several feet away from him. "Did you-?"

"Yes I did." he replied. "Don't think I didn't hear you." Trider sat down into one of the seats and began to curse the stallion, in his head this time. Green smirked at the Kanisar, but then looked back at the list in his hands. "Next up are... Critical Second."

At the mention of his name the grey maned unicorn stallion closed the book he was reading, stood up and fixed his glasses. "Guess I'm up next."

"Step next to the platform rookie." Blaze ordered and pointed towards the object. Without a word he followed the stallions instructions.

Green nodded and looked back at the list. "And his opponent is Ace Quickpaw." There was no response. Everyone looked around to see where Ace was. "Ace Quickpaw?" Green asked again, this time louder, thinking he didn't hear him. Still no response.

"Where is he?" Blaze exclaimed. "Where did that recruit go?" His coat began to turn even redder then it usually was. "Does any of you newbies know where he went?" he asked the other recruits.

"No sir!" they answered.

Blaze began to grit his teeth. "Did he abandon his post? The balls he must have!" he fumed. "If he's not here in the next three seconds I'll kick him out of the Academy."

Green sighed, as he raised his pen, ready to cross out the recruits name. "Last call for Ace Quickpaw!" he shouted.

"WAIT!!!" suddenly someone shouted. Everyones gaze turned toward the hallway where the came from and out of it came Ace running. When he reached his group he was panting like mad. "I'm here, I'm here."

Blaze walked up to the pony-dog hybrid and grabbed him by the hem of his shirt. "Where in fucking Tartarus were you?" the red stallion spat at him.

"Sir!" Ace said as he saluted his instructor. "I just went out to grab a snack, sir!"

You could practically see steam escaping Blaze's ears. "You went to get a snack?" he repeated slowly. Ace nodded slowly. "WHO AND WHY IN THE NAME OF SWEET CELESTIA ALLOWED YOU TO GET SNACKS?" he yelled at the hybrid, while shaking him back and forth.

"I was hungry sir." Ace whimpered. "And it was instructor green Fortune that allowed me to go, sir."

Immediatelly Blaze's rage was directed towards the green coated. "Green." the red stallion said, while grinding his teeth.

"Oh yeah, now I remember one of the recruits asked me if he could go out to grab a bite." Green said, as he remembered the event. "My bad." he apologised with a smile.

Taking a deep breath, Blaze released Ace. "Get your ass over to the platform. Now!" Heeding his orders, the pony-hybrid ran over to Critical and stood next to the teleporter. Blaze then walked over to him and looked him directly into the eyes. "You are excused this time, rookie. But remember this will be my first and final warning. If you pull anything like this again, I'll have you scrub all of the toilets on the premises. Understood?" Ace nodded. Satisfied with his answer, Blaze turned around to the rest of the recruits.

"And this goes for all of you. From now on, if you have a request or the like you have to ask both me and Green, not just one of us." he commanded, as he paced back and forth. "And also, from now on, you are only allowed to eat when it's time to eat. That means no more snacks, outside breakfast, lunch or dinner."

At that everyone began to complain, but none more than Trider and Ace, who looked like they had their guts torn out. "Quiet!" Blaze shouted and everyone settled down. "That's what I decided and it's final, so I don't want to hear any complaining. Am I understood?"

"Yes sir." everyone answered begrudgingly.

"Alright then." Blaze said, before he turned to Critical and Ace. "You two may proceed."

Listening to his orders both of the stallions stepped onto the platforms and were teleported to the arena below. "Don't think I'll show you any mercy, just because we train together." Critical stated.

"We'll see who begs for mercy, when I'm done with you." Ace countered. A badge on his shirt began to glow and it formed into a Nagano. He spun it around for a bit, before smashing it into the ground. "Come at me." he taunted. Critical on the other hand did nothing, he just stood still observing his opponent, with his arms crossed.

"Both fighters ready?" Green shouted. The two simply nodded and that was enough for the green stallion. "Begin!"

Ace charged at Critical, jumping when he was in range and swinging the Nagano downward. Critical however channeled his magic into his horn and shot a weird looking bubble at the pony-hybrid. "Ritardando!" he said as he shot it. Mid-way the bubble connected with Ace and it popped upon contact.

Suddenly Ace's descent and swing began to slow down, until it was almost at a crawl. Everyone looked at the display in awe, as Critical walked away from the impact point. "What the fuck? What did he do to him?" Trider asked.

"Now that is surprising. You rarely see a unicorn with the ability to manipulate time." Green said as he observed the fight's progression.

"Time manipulation?" Trider asked in shock. "You can't be serious! How can one fight against someone who can control freaking time?"

"Not control, manipulate. There is a difference." Blaze spoke up as he joined the two. "Didn't you see the bubble he shot at Ace, while he was still falling on him?" Trider nodded, so the red stallion continued. "If he truly could control time, he could just freeze it and end it all, but as you saw he has limits to how he can use his time magic."

"So, there is a way to beat him?" Trider asked.

"There is, but it takes a lot of brain power to figure it out." Green concluded and they all turned their attention back to the fight.

Ace was still falling and Critical was now standing behind him. "3, 2, 1. Play." he said, as Ace's speed suddenly picked up and he slammed his weapon into the ground. He looked at the place where Critical stood and confusion was clear on his face.

"Something wrong?" Second asked, making Ace quickly spin around. "What were trying to hit over there?"

"So you're a time weaver. This should be interesting." the hybrid said and twirled his nagano.

"Oh you were able to see me move? This really will be interesting." Critical agreed.

Again Ace charged the unicorn, this time choosing to remain on the ground. He zig-zagged to avoid any further magical bubbles. Critical however remained still not even bothering to use his magic. Soon Ace was close enough to the stallion, that he could swing his blade and hit him.

But Critical was waiting for that. "Riterdando!" He shot another bubble at Ace, when he got close enough, ensuring he couldn't dodge it. Ace however anticipated it. His hands glowed and suddenly he was propelled into the air and over the stallion. Critical could only stare as he realised what had happened. As soon as Ace landed behind his opponent, he swung his nagano around ensuring a clean hit. But while he soared over Critical, he failed to notice that the stallion had created another bubble.

"Accelerando!" Critical shouted and popped the bubble in his hand. Suddenly his movements became faster and he narrowly avoided his opponents blade. Jumping away he landed a few feet away from Ace. He cast his gaze down at his shirt and noticed that it was torn and small traces of blood could also be visible.

Ace however didn't let up his assault, as he charged the stallion yet again. "So he can also accelerate objects. This might be troublesome, if I don't take him down soon." he thought as he swung the nagano.

Critical reacted quickly and channeled magic through his horn. In a flash of light, two large daggers appeared in each of his hands and that allowed him to block Ace's attack. Not relenting, the pony hybrid continued his assault, while Critical blocked every one of them. Slowly he was being pushed back.

"That's it. If I continue like this I should be able-" He stopped his thoughts, when he caught something in the corner of his eyes. In the last second he jumped out of the way of a small dagger that flew directly towards him. Once he distanced himself, he looked around to see where the blade had come from.

He got his answer when several small balls began to form behind Critical, forming a small arc. Out of each of those spheres, slowly a blade appeared and Critical smirked. "You didn't honestly think that time magic was all I could do?" he taunted.

"I would of prefered it." Ace replied, wiping away a small drop of blood from his cheek.

"Then that's your problem not mine." Suddenly the blades shot out of the holes, each one heading directly for the pony-dog. Ace spun his nagano, blocking every blade that came at him. But because he was occupied with the daggers, he failed to notice that Critical used his magic to speed himself up and was now standing to Ace's side.

"Ritardando!" He shot a time bubble at the hybrid. Ace noticed too late, knowing he had no chance of dodging it. The bubble hit and Ace's movements were slowed down to a crawl. Critical began to walk towards him, all the while spinning one of his large daggers in his hand. "And just like that, I win." he proclaimed and raised his dagger over his head, ready to strike the pony-dog.

Suddenly his balance was thrown off, when something hit him in the head. He spun around and was about to fall down, when he saw a hoof heading directly for his stomach. When it hit, it knocked all air out of the stallions lungs and he was sent flying. When his body hit the ground, he rolled over a few times before stopping.

"W-what the...?" he wondered, as he couldn't figure out what had happened. He then looked over to Ace and saw he was moving towards him, at normal speed. "No, that's impossible. He should still be slowed. How is he-?" It suddenly occured to him and he smiled. "Augmentation magic. He used his magic to speed himself up, therefore canceling my time bubble." He stood up and glared at the pony hybrid, while spitting out blood. "This mutt has more up his sleeve than I gave him credit for."

He summoned his spheres and shot dagger after dagger at Ace. The pony-dog nimbly dodged and blocked the blades, closing in on Critical. The unicorn huffed and raised his large daggers. With a shout he for the first time charged Ace. The two clashed and began to exchange blows.

"What's up with him?" Ace wondered as he parried another attack. Critical use the chance of the parry and accelerated himself behind the pony-dog. Ace however used his own magic to accelerate himself as well and blocked his oncoming attack. "Up until now he played it safe, so why would he-?"

His thoughts were interrupted, when his back erupted in pain. "AGH!" he cried out, dropping his guard. Critical saw the chance and took it. He slashed a dagger across Ace's chest, drawing blood, and the proceeded to kick him away.

Ace fought against his pain and quickly got back up. "What the hell hit me?" He turned his head around and his eyes widened when he saw two daggers sticking out of his back. "When did he-?"

"You seem confused." Critical said suddenly. "You do know that I can accelerate and decelerate inanimate obejcts as well." Only when he said that did Ace realise what had happened.

Before he charged him, he shot another two daggers at him, but used his magic to decelerate them. So while he was fighting him he was keeping him occupied so he wouldn't have noticed the two daggers floating in mid-air. And when the magic wore off, he switched places with him, ensuring the daggers would hit him instead.

"Clever girl." Ace muttered, while reaching back and pulling the two blades out. "He's both strong and smart, a dangerous combination." he thought. "But unfortunatelly for him, so am I." He tightened his grip around his weapon and got into his battle stance.

"You still want to continue?" Critical huffed. "Fine by me, just don't come crying to me when I kick your ass."

Ace didn't reply, only glared at the stallion. The two stared at each other, both waiting for the other to make a move. Tired of waiting Critical shot another round at the pony hybrid, this time however accelerating all of the blades. Ace once again began to dodge and block the oncoming projectiles, but it was evident that he had much harder time this time around, due to his wounds and the faster blades.

Critical didn't let up his assault as more and more daggers flew at the defending pony-dog. Slowly, but surely Ace was begining to falter under the attack. Deciding to put an end to it, he swung his nagano around himself in a circle. As he did so wind began to blow around him and soon a small tornado engulfed his form. All of the daggers were blown away by the wind and once no more projectiles were coming at him Ace shut off his magic and with it the tornado receeded.

As soon as the wind let up another salvo of daggers flew at him, this time from multiple directions. Ace however anticipated that. He slammed the blade of his nagano into the ground, digging it solidly in. He then jumped on upwards and spinning around while doing so, giving the chance to see where Critical was. He landed on the tip of his weapon.

Everyone watched in awe as he landed and another badge on his shirt began to glow. In a flash of light a bow appeared in Ace's hands and a quiver on his back. Quickly grabbing an arrow, he loaded it in the bow, pulled the string and shot it towards the unicorn stallion.

"Accelerando!" Critical shouted and sped himself up, succesfully dodging the arrow. He looked at where the projectile struck the ground, then he casted his gaze towards Ace and smirked. "You'll have to do better than that!" he mocked.

"Who said I was shooting at you?" the pony-dog rebuted. Suddenly Critical felt cold enveloping his hooves and when he looked down he saw ice forming around him.

"A frost arrow?!" he thought, as he realised he was in a pickle.

"While your time magic allows you to move faster, that won't be of much help if you can't actually move." Ace said as he readied another arrow. "And I also know you're low on magic, so you can't retaliate anymore." He pulled back the string and aimed the arrow at the stallion. "All this time you boasted you'd win, but in the end..."

He didn't finish as he charged his magic through the arrow. The tip of this arrow was weirdly shaped, as it didn't have a sharp tip, but insted it looked like it had a cilinder with holes on it. Only when Ace charged his magic through it did Critical realise what kind of arrow it was. Air began to gather around the cilinder and created a small orb of compressed air.

"Wind Bomb!" Ace said and released the string. Critical could only watch as the arrow flew towards him. When it connected it created a large explosion and raised the dust around the stallion.

With a sigh Ace dropped down from his nagano and began to walk away. Suddenly a dagger flew past his head and missed him by an inch. He quickly turned around and saw Critical standing a few feet away from him.

His hooves were no longer encased in ice, probably due to the explosion and he was panting and sweating profusely. Ace raised his bow and loaded another arrow. "Stay down. I don't want to hurt you any more than I have to." he shouted at the stallion.

Critical however began to laugh, making Ace feel unnerved. Once his laughter died off he casted his gaze towards the pony-dog and grinned. "Do you really think it's over?" he asked while outstretching his arms. "While it's true I don't have much magic left, I do have enough for one final attack." His horn began to glow and Ace pulled the string even further back.

"Don't do it!" he threatened.

"It's already too late, you're already in my trap." Ace shifted his gaze around himself and it was only then that he noticed some of the daggers were sticking from the ground and were glowing.

He tried to release the arrow, but he never had the chance to. "Time Zone: Fermata!" Suddenly a line shot from all of the daggers and they connected between each other, creating a small dome over Ace.

Everyone watched as the dome erected and saw that Ace wasn't moving whatsoever. "Heh, you're the first one in a while that made me use my Time Zone." Critical thought as he catched his breath. "I can only slow down or speed up time with my time bubbles, but if I create my Time Zone then I can even freeze or reverse time within the area the Zone occupies. Although only for a short while, depending on how magic I have." He summoned his spheres and created a time bubble. "Speaking of which, can't waste any more time."

He began running around the Zone shooting the daggers at it from different directions. As soon as the blades entered the dome they stopped and were suspended in mid-air. Once he was satisfied, Critical stopped and smirked as he watched Ace standing still, unaware of the impending doomthat was about to befall him.

"3, 2, 1. Play" he said and snapped his fingers. The Zone disappeared and time within it began to flow again. Ace didn't even have time to blink as he saw several daggers pop out of thin air and heading towards him. Without any time to react, the daggers dug themselves into his form, shooting pain all over his body.

He shouted in pain as blood gushed out of his body. The pain made him lose his balance and he began to fall towards the ground. His arms went limp and he relesed the string of his bow, shooting his arrow high into the air. With a loud thud he struck the ground.

He was breathing heavily, as darkness began to envelop his vision. In the corner of his eyes he saw someone approaching him and when he looked upwards he saw Critical looking down at him.

"Like I said, I win." he stated while cleaning his glasses. "Don't worry, I made sure none of my daggers hit any of your vital spots, though you should still seek medical attention asap."

Ace's vision was hazy, but he could tell Critical was looking at him with worry. A smirk began to form on his face, which then escalated to a chuckle and then full blown laughter. Critical looked at him with worry and confusion.

"Why are you laughing. Is the blood loss making you delusional?"

"I'm laughing because you think it's over." Ace stated. "I'm not the only one who fell into a trap."

As if on cue the arrow that Ace shot before he went down, descended from the sky and when it was about ten feet above the two it exploded and water gushed out of it. It drenched both of them and Critical looked at the pony-dog with disdain.

"Seriously? What you want to catch a death cold or something?" he asked sarcastically.

"Nah, that would take too long. I prefer a more shocking solution." His hand was suddenly enveloped in electricity and he slammed it inot the ground. The electricity traveled through the water all the way to Critical's body. Before he knew it his body was spasming out of control and he could feel his skin burn. Once Ace stopped channeling the electricity, the stallion stopped his spasms.

His consciousness left him and he fell onto the ground, next to Ace, his fur severly singed. The dog-pony cracked a smile before he too fainted.

The recruits jaws were wide open at the display they just saw. Green and Blaze meanwhile just looked at each other and raised their brows.

"Well you don't see that everyday." Green said as he wrote down a memento in his notepad.

"Yeah." Blaze agreed. "The last time we had a draw was when Shining challenged you to a fight."

Green nodded. "Yeah those are good memories."