//------------------------------//
// Versus Prince Gazelle 
// Story: The Olden World 
// by Czar_Yoshi 
//------------------------------//

Gazelle flipped to his paws, pupils pinprick and grin wide at Valey's challenge. "En garde!"

Valey's cutie mark immediately flared as he rushed her, claws extending for an all-in flurry of swipes. Unable to block the prince's sharp blows, the only direction she had to go was back, feinting and drawing out a lunge before kicking the moment she saw a weakness. Her hind legs slipped past Gazelle's claws and her hooves caught his shoulder, unable to put much power into the kick but still enough to unbalance him.

"Raaaugh!" Valey backflipped through his scrabbling defense, grabbing his mane as she rose and yanking his head up with her. But Gazelle twisted in midair to face her, grinning maniacally, showing the undersides of both forepaws. His claws appeared again to slash her chest.

Pulling a twist of her own, Valey caught his soft pads with her own hooves, pinning back each strike and then headbutting his face when he tried to bite her. Another gust hit them both as they plummeted earthward, her on top... but Gazelle's hind legs were still free, and with another sliding of claws, he kicked at her, raking her belly as they fell.

"Ow!" Valey arched her back in pain, slamming him into the mud and immediately pummeling at his head. There was no way she could defend against a reckless assault from this many angles, so she'd just have to overwhelm him quicker... Gazelle's front claws sank into her shoulders as Valey slammed hoof after hoof into his head, quickly bloodying his nose. He tried to kick again, so Valey flipped away, pivoting around his head and preparing another slam.

Eagerly, Gazelle leaned upward as she jumped, biting the end of her mane and tearing her painfully back to the ground. Valey reacted instantly, pumping her wings and forcing herself downward even faster, blocking Gazelle's next swipe with a spinning kick that left her hoof flecked with blood but her adversary wide open. She slammed into his chest, forcing a gasp and giving her a window to pick him up again.

Valey reared up, one forelimb around Gazelle's barrel as a bolt of lightning split the sky. She spun, thoroughly mud-covered, and flung the prince back into the hillside, punching him into it with everything she had... but Gazelle's flailing claws sank into her mane, pulling her with him, and Valey had no limbs in place to block as he raked her side with a hideous slash.

Flash!

Suddenly, both of them were encased in a thick sheet of crystal. Valey blinked, unable to look up, Gazelle's pinprick eyes separated inches from her own... and then she shadow snuck, diving into the muddy, storm-darkened hill just as he tried to flex the claws that were already in her.

"Bananas," Valey panted, straightening up and bleeding. "This dude has no sense of self-preservation. This is gonna hurt both of us, hard... Gotta be more careful..."

Starlight nodded, standing at the top of the hill, horn glowing fiercely as Gazelle flailed inside the prison with the space Valey's escape had made. Cracks began to appear in the gem as his free paws battered at it, and the filly winced. "Are you okay?"

"I'll live." Valey touched at her side and hissed in pain. "I've had enough of that dude. Gonna stomp every bit of ego he has and kick it in the river..."

The crystal prison broke. Gazelle was in the air instantly, wings flapping against the storm, glaring at Starlight, though his pupils were still pinprick. "Stay in the audience! I don't fight children."

Starlight retaliated with another beam of crystal, this time aimed at Valey. It hit the mare's forehoof, congealing into a block just big enough to use as a weapon or a shield. "Does that help?"

"Sweet." Valey weighed the orb, arching an eyebrow at Gazelle. "Bring it, kitty."

With a screeching battle cry, Gazelle dove toward Valey, then pulled into a loop at the last second, shearing through the space in front of him with all four claws. Valey impassively stood her ground, cutie mark effortlessly reading the feint, then dove upward and punched his back from below as he finished the loop, leaving himself open. Gazelle howled, flipping himself upright and trying to counterattack, but Valey was too fast, seizing his wing joint and yanking it with all her strength before slamming Starlight's armored orb into his side with all her strength.

Gazelle's wing cracked, sending him spiraling to the ground. He held it awkwardly, looking pained but not quite broken... until a pillar of crystal plowed into him from the side.

Starlight stood on the opposite hillside, horn shining. Her weapon dissipated and another one formed, a curl of crystal erupting out of the ground where her beam struck, forming three quarters of a circle and then punching Gazelle into its base. That one vanished too, and Starlight frowned.

"Stop that!" Gazelle shot her an angry glare. "I'm not fighting y-!"

Valey dropped on his head, planting her crystal hoof across his ears and a rear kick into his spine, forcing his legs out from under him and collapsing him into the mud. "I told you, buddy," she growled, landing on his back and riding him like a sled to the bottom of the valley. "This isn't a game. There aren't rules. You're the bad guy, and you're getting what's coming."

Gazelle spat, a muddy furrow carved in the grass where he had slid down the hill. "Mraaaah!"

Valey flipped off him, wincing at her injuries but avoiding another devastating swipe. She hovered near the slope, and as she did Starlight landed another bolt at her side, forming into a pointy crystal icicle. Without even looking, Valey picked it up, the turf it was anchored to breaking free of the hillside and hanging on the base of the spike like a muddy ice cream cone. She patted the weapon. "More?"

Gazelle hissed, prowling up the hillside, clinging close to the mud as more rain pummeled down, causing the slope to weaken. Starlight fired a third bolt, catching one of his hind paws and bolting it to the ground. The grass beneath his claws failed to give purchase enough to free it, and detached from the hill as well, sending him sliding back down.

"Cease," Gazelle threatened, eyes still pinprick. "This is not a fight for fillies."

"And what are you gonna do about it?" Valey stood at an angle, favoring her injuries. "You don't wanna fight her that much? Why? Because she's kicking your rear just this hard?"

Gazelle hissed, a teal shimmer in front of him warning what would happen if he tried climbing out of the narrow valley again. "Leave," he panted.

"Sorry. I think I'm gonna need a little more groveling to accept that surrender." Valey sat down, wincing. "Accept it. You're toast. You've lost. Or you can come see how much harder we can trounce you?"

"You cheated," Gazelle growled. "Bringing a filly..."

"It wasn't a game. There were no rules." Valey shrugged, then lifted a loose patch of muddy grass and threw it at Gazelle's head. Her aim was perfect, and he couldn't dodge. "We're not here for your entertainment."

"Yes... snkkkt..." Gazelle drew a breath, wiping mud from his face. "You are..."

Valey threw another mud pie. "Nope. And there's nothing you can do to change that."

"Fight me, you coward!"

Starlight instantly obliged, using her telekinesis to grab his head and yank him off-center. Her horn sparked slightly as she hauled him back and forth like an undignified marionette, fighting for control of his balance for several seconds before stopping and leaving him alone.

"Not you!" Gazelle roared, whirling on Starlight with his pinprick gaze.

"Why not?" Starlight countered. "You're fighting Valey and trying to kill everyone in Stormhoof. Why shouldn't I be allowed to help stop you?"

Gazelle seethed, ears twitching. "This isn't business for children..."

Valey hefted another mud pie. "What's this? Have we found a line you're afraid of crossing? Or is there actually a shred of decency in your heart?" She raised an eyebrow. "I used to think you were kinda like me, you know. At the top of the world, did whatever you wanted, had a dangerous sense of humor. Needed something better to fight for... Stinks for you I was wrong, doesn't it?"

"Needed something better?" Gazelle's pupils refused to return to normal, and his tail lashed viciously as he returned to facing Valey. "I have a perfect cause! I'm purging this empire of feuds and chaos and conquering it all so my sister can inherit a land she's worthy of. Everlaste is mine, Gyre and Izvaldi are dead, Stormhoof, Goldoa and Wilderwind are occupied by my new armies..."

Valey laughed arrogantly. "Purging the Griffon Empire of chaos? Do you even hear yourself? Who was it who was cackling about how wonderful that was up in Stormhoof? With your sister yelling at you and hiring goons to punch you to make you stop?"

Gazelle's face constricted as if slapped.

"What's that you say?" Valey raised an ear. "I'm sorry, was it you? You know she spent the entire flight here hiding in the cargo bay while you were creeping around outside Crystal's room because she didn't want to be anywhere near you? In the cargo bay. A princess. You don't care one feather for her, dirtbag."

"Liar!" Gazelle screamed, surging up the hill again. Immediately, he was struck in the face by the broad end of Valey's spike, swung like a baseball bat. With a resounding crack, he flipped over, sailing through the air and landing at the bottom on his back, Valey in the air and close behind. She fell at him spike first, aiming the point, perfectly aware she could land it at any point she chose... and speared the end straight through Gazelle's ear, inches from his eye socket.

"Maybe this will help you hear me better," Valey warned, stepping away as the pinned prince spasmed in pain. "Whatever you care for, if it exists at all, will not love you back. You're a monster. Herman was a monster. And the world has ponies like us who have the skills and will to stop monsters. If there's any line you don't think you would cross, you've already crossed it. If there's anyone you care for, the one and only thing you can do to keep them safe from yourself is to leave this continent and never return."

Gazelle shivered, and for a moment, his eyes returned to normal. "I was going to conquer this empire..."

"Yeah. But if you rule it, it'll quickly no longer exist." Valey stared at him, knowing Starlight was still at the ready. "You wanted to restore order to a chaotic empire, or something? Bananas, I don't believe you. Maybe it was a passing fancy, but there's this thing called actions speaking louder than words. You were laughing your head off about chaos back..." She trailed off, realizing something was wrong: while she could still see and hear the rain, none was falling on her.

Valey darted to the side and rolled, having just enough time to make out an area in midair where the rain was splashing against nothing. Then, with a ripple of light, the giant metal dragon from Mistvale faded into existence, standing like a sightless sentinel staring down at Gazelle. It had almost no facial features, but somehow seemed sad to see him.

Valey held her breath. Starlight did too. Both remembered what happened to the fake Yanavan the last time this dragon appeared.

"Big brother," a voice said, and Valey spotted Princess Gwendolyn walking carefully down the hillside from the direction of the new Izvaldi compound. "What are you doing?"

The dragon spread a metal wing as Gwendolyn got near, shielding the princess from the rain. "Lyn..." Gazelle croaked.

Lyn frowned. "I was going to ask Aegis to kick your tail," she said, putting a hoof on the dragon's leg and flexing her little wings. "But it looks like I don't need to. I just heard what you did to Percival and Crystal. What point could there possibly be in doing this?"

Gazelle coughed, the mud covering him making it hard to judge the extent of his injuries, though Starlight's spike still pinned his ruined ear to the ground. "I... wanted to..."

Lyn nodded up at the dragon. "Aegis, please take my wayward brother and carry him back to Grandbell. Find him a newspaper so he can see how everything in Stormhoof ended, make sure someone responsible never lets him out of their sight, and then come back here and find me."

With a shifting of steel, the dragon bowed, then extended the claw-spikes it had used to end Yanavan. Two of them gently pinched the spike, raising it and freeing Gazelle. Then the claws retracted, the dragon reared up and lifted his battered body, and was gone in a tunnel of wind faster than Valey's eyes could follow.

"...I'm sorry." Gwendolyn looked at the ground, rain hammering on her dress in the cold dawn light. "Thank you for trying to knock some sense into him."