//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Escalation // by Crack-Fic Casey //------------------------------// Marble Pie wasn't a very confrontational person, and neither was she a talkative one. It wasn't that she disliked people; she simply preferred them at a distance. So while she wanted to go and talk to Ruby about Pinkie Pie’s crush, she had to wait for one of her sisters to come with her and do the actual talking part of a talk. It was a sensible, logical thing to do. Marble repeated that to herself as she watched Limestone grow more and more frustrated with Ruby. It didn’t help. “—And why was she so tired last night? What were you two doing?” “Scrubbing the floor,” an increasingly confused Ruby said. “I went home sore too, I spend all last night on my knees. Who are you again?” Limestone gritted her teeth. “I’m your worst nightmare.” Ruby gasped. “You’re a human/angst monster hybrid shapeshifter here to ruin all my friendships so I’ll turn evil?” “No, I’m…” Even after living with Pinkie forever, Limestone felt throw off. “Shit, is that a thing?” Ruby shrugged. “I mean, not yet but…” “Whatever. Look,” Limestone tried to take a step forwards, but Marble grabbed her hand pulled her back. “Look,” she tried again. “I know you’re some kind of a warrior priestess—“ “Actually that's warrior pope—” “I don’t care!” Limestone pulled her hand out of Marbles and got in Ruby’s personal space. “I don’t care why your obsessed with Sunset and her friends, or what your game is, you are going to cool it right the fuck—“ “Hey!” Ruby’s expression became one of relief. Limestone rolled her eyes and turned around to shout at whoever dared interrupt one of her rants. She looked up. She looked up some more. The woman standing before them looked like an explosion given human form. Her long blonde hair shined like flames, and every move radiated strength. On each arm, she wore gauntlets that Marble knew from the internet were named Ember Celica and worked like shotguns. She took off her sunglasses and glared at Limestone. “Is there a problem here?” "Nothing that concerns you," Limestone snapped. "So move on!" "Oh, I'm feeling concerned. I feel very, very concerned." The woman took off her sunglasses and glared at Limestone like she was going to melt her. "Maybe you should move on." "Hey, I've got a personal beef with your bitch of—" Limestone didn't mean very much by the remark. She swore a lot and described anyone who wasn't family and annoyed her as 'bitch' as a warm-up before she got truly insulting. Most people didn't appreciate this and could, for example, use that as an excuse to deck her. The woman turned back from Limestone's dazed form and eyed up Marble. Ruby was letting the girl hide behind her cloak so she didn't deem her a threat. "What's the loudmouth's deal?" "I dunno Sunny, she's weird! Something about my fight with Pinkie and—" Limestone kicked Sunny's legs out from under her and dove on top of her. Sunny caught her with her legs and kicked her overhead. Limestone scrambled to her feet and pointed at Sunny. The ground began to rumble as Limestone's magic called upon the power of the earth. Jagged chunks of rock shot through the ground and flew at Sunny's head. She ducked under the first, sidestepped a second, and then simply punched through the third. She fired one of her gauntlets at Limestone. The recoil shook her arm, but the fireball smacked Limestone away. "Let's dance!" Ruby flinched as the fight began in earnest. "So, you're Pinkie Pie's sister, right? Marble?" "Mm." The girl was short enough that Ruby could have looked her in the eyes if Marble would meet them. She stared at the ground tugged at her sleeves as she ignored the angry shouting and wanton destruction. "Stand still and fight!" "Stop sucking first!" "Soooo Marble, you wanna tell me who the weirdo is?" Ruby wondered if calling someone weird was hypocritical. Even if it is, she decided, I can use my powers as pope of the Church of the Divine Bacon Horse to declare it un-weird. Marble looked away. "Mhmm." "That's great. This isn't weird at all." Ruby ran her hands through her hair and wondered if this was what Sunset felt like all the time. "Should I call Pinkie?" "MM!" Marble waved her arms frantically and shook her head like a deranged action figure. "Mmmm mrm!" "Whoa, jeez!" Ruby took a step back. "Look, I'm putting the phone away, okay? But we need someone to keep them from leveling the park." Marble nodded and pulled out her phone. Ruby tried to peek over her shoulder but Marble moved away. "Fine," Ruby stamped her foot which wasn’t immature because she was the pope and she said so. "I'll go over here and... help Sunny." With a crash Sunny skidded to a stop in front of them. She pushed herself up and spat dirt out of her mouth. "Lucky shot," she growled. "Come over here and lemme show you how lucky I am!" Limestone shouted from the far end of the park. With a gesture, the rock farmer raised a stone wall between the two. "Bring it! Ruby unfolded Crescent Rose, but Sunny waved her back. "I got this. She strong but she's green." Sunny rose to her feet and spat out blood. She loosened her shoulders and snapped her gauntlets into place. "Showtime." She triggered Ember Celica as she moved, sending her flying forwards. She twisted as she floated over the ground, touching down just long enough to get traction to vault over the wall. Limestone squawked as Sunny came down towards her and dove underground. Sunny crashed with enough force to leave a crater and rattle her teeth, but Limestone was already gone. A cloud of dust stung her eyes, and she coughed. "You can't hide forever," she called as she tried to move free. "I mean, you can't even breathe down there—" There was a low rumble, and before she could react, the ground under Sunny feet heaved her into the air. "You're only as strong as the ground under your feet!" Limestone shouted. Oh sweetie. Sunny let herself go loose as she flipped backward and waited. Limestone could let her splat, but she was too much like Sunny used to be. Sure enough, Limestone flew towards her on a stone pillar, raising a gigantic stone bat in both hands. "How’s this for luck?" Sunny waited until the girl over-committed to the swing before moving. She triggered her gauntlets again, flying under the swing and smashing into the pillar with a loud crunch! Limestone shouted as the pillar broke in half, and desperately brought up a second platform to land on. She hit her arm when she landed and winced as pain shot up her arm. As she pulled herself to her feet she heard a second impact behind her. "Hey," Sunny Little Dragon said in her ear. What Limestone said was unprintable. Limestone tried to drive her elbow into Sunny's face, but she ducked the blow and sucker-punched her in the stomach. She doubled over, and Sunny's knee came up snapped her head back with a wham! She followed it up with a right jab, but Limestone caught it and nailed her with a right cross. She stepped closer to hit Sunny again, but the blonde bombshell ducked around her and grabbed her under the chest. “You wanna know what a Supplex is?” Sunny backflipped off the pillar, holding Limestone in her arms. The older Pie sister watched the ground rise up to meet her. Maybe this will be one of those things that doesn't hurt until I wake up later? It was not. "Hmrm!" Marble squeaked with a wince. "Yeah," Ruby agreed, "that had to hurt." Sunny dusted off her gauntlets, watching as Limestone pushed herself up and shook her head. "Right... look, kiddo, I don't know what you've got against my little sister, but you're clearly outmatched. If you walk away now--" "You're good..." Limestone grunted, wiping some blood off her lips. "Fight a lot of monsters?" "Yeah, I do." The gray woman looked up with a smirk. "What do you know, I do too." She rose her arm, and Sunny had a brief moment to notice how some blood seemed to slither into strange patterns on her jade bracer. Limestone stood up, cricking her neck. "Course, most of the fuckers I fight aren't dumb beasts hopped up on hate magic. No, they're the real kind of monsters--you know, people who've decided they're more important than anybody else." She rolled her shoulders, bringing out a pendant and spitting blood onto it. "They tend to get a little arrogant, think that once a bitch starts bleeding, they're down for the count." Sunny shook herself, taking a ready stance--though her eyes widened as she watched the other girl's muscles twist, thickening to grotesque proportions until they barley fit under her skin. She grew, slowly getting larger until she stood twice as tall and three times as broad as Sunny. "O...kay..." "Yeah. Thing is, you're not a monster. Can't even really call you a bitch. So as much fun as I'm having, I'm going to have to end this quickly." Limestone braced herself, showing off her now catlike teeth with a reddened grin. "Come on, girlie. Show me what you've really got." For one tense moment, the two of them glared across the park at each other. "...Hey! Thing about the monsters I fight?" Sunny smirked. "Can't be intimidated." "What's your point?" "I'm an actual fighter. You're just a performer with a few tricks." She flipped her hair. "How's life in Cirque De Soile, anyway?" Limestone growled, and the ground under her feet shook again. Sunny was forced into the air, but instead of flying straight up she at an angle towards Limestone and more specifically her fist. WHAM! Sunny flew back and slammed into a rock wall. It slanted backward for a split second before Sunny was flung forwards again. This time, she had time to see the smug look on Limestone’s face. WHAM! “Sunny!” Ruby exclaimed. “Use your gauntlets—“ WHAM! “Or sorta twist away from—“ WHAM! "Stop letting her punch you!” WHAM! Sunny managed to bring herself around and punched through the stone wall. She hit the ground and bounced, landing at the edge of the park. Her head swam and she felt nausea creep around her torso. Before she could recover, the ground shifted again. Another platform rose into the air as Sunny tried to get to her feet. She lost her footing again as Limestone landed over-top of her. “Alright bitch,” she growled through cat-like teeth, “who's getting lucky now?” “Not you, unless you’re willing to buy me dinner first.” Sunny rolled around Limestone’s furious punch and off the pillar. She grabbed ahold of the ledge and flung herself up and over Limestone’s head. Limestone started to turn, but even with her increased strength, her distorted form wasn’t quick or graceful. As she came down behind Limestone she fired her gauntlets again, tackling the titan and reaching her arms around her neck. “Didn’t we just do this?” This time Sunny saw stars when they hit the ground, but she grimly hung on. Limestone gagged and gasped for breath as Sunny’s grip chocked her. She tried to throw herself backward, but Sunny got her legs underneath her and held them both up. The ground behind them shook as another flat wall rose, ad Sunny was slammed into it full force. Pain snapped across her back and head, but she held on. Limestone went to throw herself again— "Stop." The wall abruptly turned to sand, and Sunny tumbled through. It parted enough to let her through and solidified to keep Limestone away from her. More jets of sand erupted from the ground, twisting around Limestone's arms and transforming into stone. She fell to her knees. A tall woman with long her and an expression that Sunny couldn't categorize as intense or bored strode across the field. "I'm sorry about this," she said. "My name is Maud Pie. I wish to talk." Limestone shifted in her bonds, only stopping when she saw Maud's Look. "Calmly talk, if that is possible."