//------------------------------//
// Dazzling Gleam 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

POWWWW!

Valey rocketed into Neon Nova at an upward angle, hoof striking with such force that the stallion was lifted clean off the staircase, falling several meters to the floor below and landing in an undignified heap. "Unnngh..."

"Uh-oh." Valey's face fell in quick dismay, and she landed, prodding his cloaked form with the very tip of a hoof. "Hey, please don't go down that easily! I'm sorry I went too hard, I wanted to savor-!"

Only a well-timed backflip saved her from Neon's get-up attack, hind legs lashing out low to the floor as he flipped upright, somehow not tripping on his massive coat. He fixed his crooked shades with a dizzy hoof, shook his head, and staggered into a fighting stance.

"Oh yeah!" Valey spread her wings, crouching between him and the other three with a lunatic smile. "That's better! Here we go!"

She pitched forward, diving facefirst into the ground in a ripple of shadow. Beating a zigzag path toward him amid the dim orange lighting, she closed the distance quickly, before...

"Dazzling..." Neon's horn sparked white. "Gleam!"

A burst of harsh light that seemed to blacken everything else in the room twirled from his horn and polished smile in sync, reflecting in stripes across his shades and causing Maple, Redshift and Starlight to wince. Valey was forcibly ejected from the floor as her shadow swept away, landing with a thud and a tangle of limbs. "Hey, that's rude!" she lifted her head to complain.

"Mmm hm hwa!" Neon laughed, flicking his forelegs out of the sleeves of his coat. "Apparently, that counts as an attack back in bat-land! But here's the truth, Missy! It was just a pose!"

His horn flared again, summoning an invisible gale that barreled into him, flapping his coat back like a heroic cape and revealing a gem-studded, gold-trimmed, white faux-leather suit beneath. "Aw yeah! It's go time!"

A hoof erupted from the ground beneath him, punching him in the gut and earning an arched back and a hearty wheeze. "Ooooof!"

"Nyaaah!" Valey blasted out of the ground at an angle, kicking him to the side as she rose. "You gotta take advantages when you get them!" She landed, once again facing him a safe distance away. "Not sit around preening! Try again!"

Neon stood his ground. "You're one to talk! I am in top condition, and also know your weakness! Take... this!"

Another surge of white light, though this one was scaled back slightly... and also didn't fade. He held the glow, eye twitching slightly from the strain. "Be weakened, foul foe!"

Valey rolled her eyes. "Light doesn't hurt me, you blowhard! I just like shadows! Now knock that off before you overexert yourself and cut my fight short!"

Neon held his grin, and his spell.

"Fine, fine..." Valey sighed and spread her wings. "Guess I'll have to turn your lights off my way."

She flipped forward, soaring into the air, eyes constricting against the shine of her opponent's horn. Suddenly, her flank tingled with danger... and she focused. There. He was hiding a telekinetic cloud in the glare, performing two spells at once, undoubtedly to catch her and slam her groundward.

Fat chance. With an easy smirk, Valey pulled up, watching as the telltale signs of the cloud followed her... then did a backflip, dropping into a loop and gliding effortlessly under in a burst of speed.

Biff! She collided with her target's slack-jawed face, bracing against the ground and uppercutting his chest.

"Yeowch!" Neon managed as he went flying, rolling to a stop on his back. Features drooping, he inspected the circular hoofprint where Valey had struck his suit. "Kindly keep your muddy hooves away from-"

Valey was beside him in a flash. "You were saying about weaknesses?" With a dastardly smirk, a sharp, webbed wingtip reached out... and tore a clean gash in his his suit, nearly two inches long.

Neon's eyes went pinprick. "Nooooo!" His horn lit. "You will pay for that!"

Suddenly, Valey's flank stabbed with danger, and time slowed to a crawl.

Suspended in slow-motion, Neon's words drifted inaudibly past her, his lips moving at a comical speed. Normally, it was a sight Valey would find funny, but this was a sensory boost for only the most dire circumstances. Her eyes flicked back and forth over his entire body, scanning urgently for whatever had triggered her brand, legs already coiling for a leap to safety.

There! Curled in his telekinesis, a knife was floating out of the folds of his trench coat. Knives were for cheaters.

Scowling, Valey simultaneously slammed out a forehoof and hind leg. Time returned to normal as she struck Neon's horn, extinguishing his aura in a shower of sparks, at the same time kicking his knife to the far corners of the room. She pummeled him once more for good measure, then took off, soaring out of his range.

"Guh... Someone's... hasty on their hooves..." Neon mumbled, getting up and massaging his head. "You think that's funny? I'll show you the funniest joke in the wooooorld!"

Valey scoffed, not sensing immediate danger. "You're the one who was playing dir- Hey!"

With twin bursts of teleportation, the stallion appeared at her side, swiped her hat, and left before she could react. Valey snarled.

Neon frowned innocently. "Ohhh, that strikes a nerve, doesn't it?" He hovered the black beret over his head, another knife snaking out from his coat and flickering dangerously close to the fabric. "See how you like having your trademarked appearance disrespected. Count of three... or maybe not!"

Splorp.

Before Valey could react, before Neon could slash the hat, a banana peel tipped out, landing wetly atop his head and plastering its leaves over his eyes like a tiny yellow octopus. "Buh-waaaugh! What the...?"

Valey was at his side again in a flash. "Mine!" Seizing the beret and slapping it in place over her bare green mane, she bicycle-kicked the back of his head, striking twice before landing and driving his face into the ground.

"Now then..." Wrapping one foreleg around his neck and the other against his back, she lifted him in a suplex, flinging him over backward. As he flew, she yanked back hard on the coat... and it snapped clean off, settling limply in her hooves.

"Nice!" Valey shook it, ignoring the discombobulated stallion behind her. It jingled with lumps of weight, laden with hidden things of all kinds. "Yeah, I don't think you need this," she muttered, before tossing it to the edge of the room.

"Y-You..." Neon Nova staggered to his hooves, wiping banana paste from his eyes.

"Me!" Valey interrupted, excitement returning. She glanced to Maple, Redshift and Starlight in the corner... and after a second's hesitation, flung her hat at them like a boomerang. "Hey, hold this! Hats are off for the next round!"

Maple caught it, and it vanished. Valey nodded appreciatively. Neon looked frantically around, quickly realizing that Valey was standing between him and his primary advantage, fully confident.

"You ready?" Valey scoffed, licking her lips. She tossed her freed mane, its messy green strands falling nearly to her shoulders.

"Dazzling..." Neon's horn flashed, smoking. "Gleam!" he managed desperately.

Valey looked on, unimpressed, as the twin surges of light flashed by her ineffectually. One of Neon's lenses was cracked, dampening the effect even more. "Eh." She shrugged. "If that's your battle cry..."

Wings whizzed, and a cloud of disturbed air swirled where Valey had once stood. Four black hooves landed in front of Neon with a smash that shook the room, and Valey crouched, ready.

Pow! Neon's hoof flashed out in a pre-emptive strike... and Valey countered with a punch of her own, sending shock waves that caused the stallion's leg to buckle. She struck again with her other, and it was all Neon could do to block it with the flat of his leg, taking a step back to avoid overbalancing.

Smash! Valey reared up, taking a step forward to counter, a hoof meeting Neon's chest with another impact. Seeing her occupied, he swung out of his flinch with a right hook, aimed squarely at her head... and she swept her foreleg sideways, knocking his away and forcing him to stumble.

Crack! While his head was down, she punched his horn, which had begun to light, sparks landing harmlessly on her tight black coat. Neon pitched forward, gasping, and was met with an uppercut, forcing him back upright.

Bam! Wham! Biff! Valey took another step, and then another, blows increasing in speed as he lost all ability to counter. Every third or fourth was aimed at his horn, keeping his magic at bay, and she occasionally batted back flailing forelegs, driving him closer and closer to the wall.

Hoofprints peppered Neon's body like the tempo of a storm, frequency rising even faster as Valey's forelegs morphed into a blur. They never struck the same place twice, each thrown at a single percent of her power, as if he was a dinner that needed to be evenly cooked and not overdone. His eyes shook in his skull, jaw rattling incoherently as Valey spun him around and around, not sparing his back or sides from her wrath.

Suddenly, her head dropped, an upward gust from her wings propelling her down and forward. Valey lunged off the ground with a massive headbutt, flinging Neon's helpless body high into the air, and flipping up after him.

Her wings pumped as she chased him upward, launching more punches to boost his momentum. The rocky ceiling approached, twirling blackly... and Valey grabbed him, flapping to the side and spinning like a tornado.

As they met the roof, she yanked her wings out, drawing their momentum up so that he was below her. Firing with all four legs and bracing her wings against the top, she launched him downward like a cannon blast, flipping and kicking off it herself in pursuit.

With a tempestuous explosion of air, they landed as one... and Neon Nova didn't get up.

"Bluh-hurrrrgh..." His yellow eyes rolled back in his head, and he was still.

"Well?" Valey looked up, grinning, as the three spectators crept out from behind the power switch, slack-jawed in awe. "How'd you like it? I told you I'm good!"

"H-Here's your..." Maple stammered, trying to look at Valey and Neon at once. "Hat back..."

Valey slapped it in place. "Much obliged." She turned to Redshift and smirked. "So that's what it looks like when I draw something out for fun. If I needed to... say, break through some armor, those punches could've been a lot harder and gone for a lot bigger of weak points. Still fancy Braen being able to trash me now?"