"Nnngh! Let me go!" Saffron struggled fruitlessly against Valey's hold, her horn pulsing yet unable to ignite with the banana peel separating so much of it from the air.
"Nah. I'm feeling like a win," Valey gasped, her entire body feeling painfully like a leg that had been slept on after absorbing the last blast from Saffron's horn. She clung to the bigger mare, locking them both in a position on the ground where Saffron's legs and head were pinned, unable to do anything except scrabble uselessly. "Not sure I wanna get hit by that again..."
After what felt like minutes of resistance with no Hank coming to the rescue, Saffron finally gave up and went limp. "Well, I'll be. In all my days, I've never seen a unicorn be incapacitated like this before. I don't know whether it's cheating or creativity at its finest, but it got me good."
"Heh heh..." Valey chuckled weakly. "That mean I can get off now? Wouldn't want to start enjoying this."
Saffron rolled her eyes, able to slip free now that Valey relaxed her grip. "Now, now, gloating over a win is one thing, but no need to flirt." She climbed to her hooves, hoisting Valey in her telekinesis when the batpony didn't immediately follow and presenting her to Howe. "Here you go, mister announcer. You got yourself a winner."
"Slick." Valey dropped to her hooves, wobbling heavily as her muscles tingled and refused to act with coordination. "Ow, bananas, what did you do to me?"
"Energy attacks," Saffron explained, offering Valey her shoulder and giving the unconscious Hank a glance, a medical team on their way to help carry him off the field. "Hits you from the inside. Not too bad on their own, but real good at wearing you out and slowing you down if you take too many. You're kinda small, so I guess two was all it took to get to you?"
"Kind of small?" Valey's ears flicked as the crowd cheered above and Howe and Neon Nova pumped up their match. "Oh, so you tell me not to flirt..."
Saffron snorted good-naturedly. "You know I didn't mean it like that. So, you want to explain why even though I lost, I'm the one helping you off the field?"
"I guess I'm just good at forcing surrenders." Valey scooped her hat off the ground with a wingtip, depositing it sloppily back on her head, leaving the banana peel on the ground as a gift for the next fight. "Ow."
Saffron shrugged. "Well, lucky all three of us have our heals left. Hank sure will need his, and I doubt you want to be fighting Wallace like this." She hesitated. "Thanks for finishing me gently, by the way. It's against the rules for me to give you mine, but I don't exactly need it and can save it for some important time instead."
Valey winced. "Heh. Yeah... Wallace is up next, is he?"
"For you? Sure is." Saffron reached the tunnel, Valey still leaning on her side. "This was the last round of the quarterfinals. Whichever of us won that would be up against him battle after next, and whoever wins that goes straight to the finals."
Valey grinned. "Yeah... guess I do have to use my potion now. Wallace is probably gonna end me, but that's not so bad. In the end, I'm only here because I wanna be. You ever been this high before?"
"Once." Saffron shrugged again. "Top sixteen? I can do that as long as I don't run into someone who's champion material on my way there. Top four? That's pushing it. Wallace, I know I can't beat. And one of the two who's up right now, fighting for the other spot in the grand finals? Fastest earth pony you ever did see. Not Yulio, the one fighting him. I've lost to both of them. Didn't even stand a chance."
"Heh... Any tips?" Valey chuckled.
Saffron nodded sagely. "Heal now, don't get hit, and hope this is one of those days where he doesn't seem completely invincible. I've thrown everything I have at him before, and only gotten speeches about fighting for fun just won't cut it and I've gotta have something I believe in. Sorry, Wallace, but that's just a recipe for getting sore when I lose. Makes you desperate, too, which can lead to poor decision making."
Valey's mind flashed back to her last conversation with Wallace, where the griffon told her the secret of his empowerment from Garsheeva. "Yeah... He's a cool dude, but sometimes pretty silly."
"Either way?" Saffron patted her on the back as they entered the preparation room. "Wherever you and your friends are flying next, win or not, you gotta let me take you out with the others as a celebration for making it this far. No way to wrap up a good tournament run like laughing off the loss and commiserating about old foes."
Valey winked, testing if she could stand on her own. "Heh. Yeah. I'll totally be down. So, any idea where they give out the healing... Buh?"
Garsheeva was sitting in the middle of the preparation room.
"Uhhh." Saffron immediately dropped into a steep bow, leaving Valey wobbling. "Your Exaltedness..."
"Oh, I'm not here for you." Garsheeva waved a dismissive claw, though the room was largely empty and everyone who was there was giving her a wide berth regardless. "There's just someone who's been using questionable means to breeze through fights in my tournament, and I'm deciding whether to use questionable means to answer his wish if he wins."
Valey winced. "Is it that Yulio guy?"
A loud sigh sounded from a doorway as Wallace stepped in. "Did somebody say Yulio?"
Valey raised an eyebrow, and Garsheeva turned to glance at the new entrant. Wallace just shook his head. "I've been with Morena. She fought him in the first wave. He has a sword that did something to her, and it... isn't pretty."
"All flopped out, can't move except for her eyes?" Valey asked, ears falling.
"You've seen it too, then?" Wallace nodded. "Yes. It's... concerning, to say the least."
"She'll get better in about a week," Valey assured, not entirely sure where she remembered this sword's effects from. "But yeah. So, you and me, huh? And whoever wins gets to go to the finals?"
Wallace puffed up again. "Yes! Steel yourself, young Valey, and come at me with everything you have. If I'm correct, it won't be long until we begin..."
"Over there, sugarcube." Saffron nudged Valey's shoulder, pointing out a desk in a corner that had an open crate of jars behind it.
"Thanks." Valey stumbled over, nodding at the pegasus mare with an office haircut sitting behind. "Healing?"
The mare nodded, briefly scanning a checklist with a pen in her mouth. "Admiral Valey?"
"Yep." Valey nodded.
The mare made a mark, passing up a jar with her wing. "You know how this works. You get one use, no sharing with other fighters, here you go." She stared, expecting Valey to drink it then and there.
Valey complied, a pleasant relief washing over her as the tingling faded from her body and her muscles returned to their usual state. The pain in her cutie mark wasn't gone, unfortunately... In fact, it was noticeably worse as the day went on. Silently resolving to surrender before she hurt herself too badly trying to beat Wallace and maybe even get out of the tournament by deliberately letting him win, she grinned, passed back the empty jar, and strolled back towards Wallace and Saffron.
"I believe we'll be starting soon," Wallace remarked as she returned. "Are you prepared to do what you must to win?"
"Nope," Valey replied, her stride easy and her senses alert. "But I am prepared to do what I came here to do. Bring it, bathtub. We've fought before, and I'm not bailing on this match either."
Wallace gave a teeth-twinkling grin. "With how that scallywag Yulio's matches have been going, I can't imagine this one won't be extremely quick in one direction or another. Come. Let us prepare for battle."
Valey followed Wallace out to the battlefield, stepping into the sunlight to be greeted by Howe and Neon Nova's amplified voices. In the distance, she could see two fighters, one still standing and one not. The one on his hooves had a sword.
"Valey!" She was distracted by a voice from nearby, and glanced over to see a low bunker, Amber grinning and waving frantically from the edge. "Hi!"
"Amber?" Valey blinked, walking closer... and saw Maple, Starlight, Shinespark and Gerardo as well, all of her friends who weren't on the airship. "Wait, I thought you guys had seats up on the wall?"
Amber waved a hoof. "Cheer squad. Semifinals means your friends get the best seats in the house!"
"This certainly is close to the action," Gerardo remarked. "Though apparently neither of the two who were just fighting drew many close acquaintances, and it seems Morena and Diego are both indisposed on Wallace's end. So... congratulations. It's us."
"Not quite," Saffron remarked from behind Valey with a wink.
Valey jumped, not having noticed the mare's presence. "Wait, you're back out here too?"
"Sure." Saffron shrugged. "If you'll allow it. Figure it wouldn't hurt to root for one of you. Though if you need me to drum up a bigger crowd by the finals, I can go look for Shill, Randorf and the others."
"The more, the merrier," Wallace insisted with a grin. "As for Valey and myself, however, we have a fight to commence. My thanks to all of you for your support. Now then... shall we begin?"
Valey followed him to the center of the arena, the sun directly overhead and baking into the soil. The Aldenfold was so close and so tall, it was like a horizon in the sky, the sun inches away from touching it and setting at high noon.
She adjusted her hat. "Yeah. I'm ready. Time to see what I've got."
Wallace's grin flashed like steel flying through the air, and soon, he was too. The griffon took full advantage of their bigger battlefield, launching straight into a corkscrew that sent him soaring high, preparing to land on Valey with devastating force.
"Nope!" Valey flitted to the side, Wallace landing into a roll. The big griffon pivoted with alarming speed, using his wings like an extra pair of legs to propel himself along the ground as his fist balled into a massive, muscular punch.
Time to see if her newfound motivation got her anywhere new... Reading his blow with her cutie mark, Valey sidestepped to the only safe location, slamming both hind legs into his arm in a ferocious kick. She couldn't tell if she earned a grunt, her hooves sinking into a wall of muscle, but she immediately pumped her wings, dodging away before he could retaliate.
That retaliation came, Wallace rolling himself into a ball and swiftly crushing the spot she had been standing. Valey yelped, dodging to the side again, her cutie mark slowing time... but that timestop gave her time to think. Wallace didn't need to focus on precision blows when he was so huge. He just had to cover as much area as possible... and with her enhanced reflexes, this was the perfect time to get in through that.
Valey kicked against the ground, reversing her momentum in a heartbeat and latching onto the side of Wallace's rolling figure. Before he could alter his trajectory to flatten her again, she found the base of his wing, forced its feathery plumage away, and bit down as hard as she could afford.
Even though the wing joint was far too thick to fit in her mouth, she felt herself graze flesh, and the taste of blood stung her tongue. Wallace's wing flexed, slapping her away as he spun to a stop. Finally, she had gotten a reaction.
"You've changed!" Wallace declared as he straightened up, spreading his wings in a show of imposing power. "You're not the same Valey I fought in Izvaldi or Stormhoof."
"Cool story," Valey replied, hovering as she waited for his next strike. "Come on!"
Wallace stood there and waited, changing up his style and forcing her to approach. Fine, then. Valey narrowed her eyes and charged, reading a right hook followed by an overhead wing chop. She expertly ducked, rolling to the side as the wing came down and sliding around a mighty stomp, grabbing Wallace's hind leg as she skidded. "Yaaaah!" Valey called, flinging herself about and slamming a punch squarely into his heel joint.
Again, she got no visible effect, but unlike in Izvaldi the big griffon clearly felt it. He lifted his leg, Valey still attached, and she had to scramble free to avoid being shaken off by a brush of his titanic wing. Wallace spun, and Valey was forced to fall back to avoid being crushed against the ground by his pounding talons.
Valey rolled away, kicking off the ground and back onto her hooves as Wallace belly-flopped in pursuit, landing on his chest and rotating, his wings sweeping a circle around him like sawblades along the ground. The moment he registered that Valey was too far away, Wallace flipped again, jumping and slamming towards her on his back, then bouncing and coming down with an upright stomp to finish the move off.
Even slamming himself into the ground with repeated stomps didn't hurt him... Valey had a feeling even if she could get through whatever powers Garsheeva had granted, he was simply too big to care about most of what she had to offer. There was no way she would be able to wear him down, especially without being worn down herself. She had to focus one area, try to hit him in the same place over and over again...
Wallace didn't wait for her this time, charging her with a shoulder prone for a slam. Valey ducked toward his head, knowing he was about to roll over and crush her if she dodged toward his back instead, and was rewarded by his beak stabbing straight for her head. But her cutie mark gave her too much time to react, and she smashed Wallace's mustache against the ground with a hoof before punching him in the chin at full force, knocking his head back and severing half of the mustache from his face.
"Well. Haven't had that used against me before..." Wallace stood up, rubbing a welt where the crinkly hairs had been torn from him. Valey wasn't keen on letting him have his time to grieve, though, and was immediately on her hooves, flying at his head again and hoping to bait him into exposing the side where she had bitten his wing.
With a battle cry, Valey sailed toward him with a jump kick, dodging with her wings as he nearly smacked her out of the sky with a punch. She tried to grab his shoulder and pivot, reaching for his side again, but Wallace was simply too large to find purchase and by the time she could adjust her momentum on her own, he was already spinning in the opposite direction.
Thwack! Wallace's tail clobbered her like an abnormally-thick whip, sending her crashing to the ground. Valey spat, rubbing her side and back on the defensive again as Wallace lunged, following up on his hit with a big double-talon smash.
Dodging backwards would only give up her position, though. Valey scraped under him, fully prepared to dart to the side when he inevitably crushed her... but no, he wasn't doing that.
Wallace threw himself to the side, landing right where she was about to dodge to. Valey didn't give him any time to realize he missed, jumping on his exposed side, the one she didn't want, and tearing at this wing base with her teeth too. She got in two solid bites this time before he could fling her away, scraping with her teeth and focusing on maximizing surface damage to make future bites easier rather than sinking in deep.
"Hah!" Wallace clapped his wings like a flyswatter, and Valey backflipped to safety, one of his feathers catching her and giving her a wobbly landing. "Have a new favorite tactic, do you? Remember not to get predictable, young Valey!"
Wallace turned his back on her, spinning his tail like a whistling shield. Then he rapidly backed toward her, looking over his shoulder and steering quickly as he attempted to mow her down with his improvised blade. Valey scrambled backwards, but Wallace was too quick for her to shake him, turning instantly and keeping his spinning tail between them at all times. He was forcing her to use the arena's size to its full potential... so she did.
With a streak of green, Valey blasted straight up, pirouetting midair as her opponent soared up to meet her. Wallace rocketed toward her with an outstretched punch, accelerating to such speeds that even though she could have grabbed him, even hanging on would have given her a carpet burn. This was a bad place to be. Most high-altitude combat involved ramming each other, and that was a contest she would always lose.
Valey sped after him, hoping to catch him in the transition as he changed his momentum to zoom around for another blow. She was too slow, and Wallace blasted past her again, but this time she grabbed his tail, somehow clinging on even as her legs and belly burned from the force of clinging on as it ripped past her. Wind blasted through her mane, costing her her hat, but hoof by hoof she pulled herself up, catching his haunches and crawling along onto his back.
This high in the air, Wallace couldn't devote his wings to scraping her off and couldn't reach her with his talons, but his head reached around to defend himself. Missing half of his mustache, he grinned dangerously and launched a ferocious peck at her, which Valey repelled with a heavy punch. Wallace's head swung like a bobble, and she was ready when he came in for more, jumping along his back to a better hold near his side and bracing herself with her hind legs before striking at his face again. This time, the hit was solid, and her cutie mark told her she had earned enough time to go for his wings again.
Valey slipped down his side, biting for all she was worth, scoring two more chomps before Wallace threw himself into a barrel roll. But Valey saw it coming and clung on hard, biting down again as he pulled out.
Immediately, Wallace dropped, soaring hard for the ground and angling to crush her against the dirt. Valey had no choice but to bail, but this time, when she stood up and faced her opponent again, he looked like she was getting somewhere.
"Let it never be said you couldn't score a hit on me, young Valey," Wallace grunted, holding his wing. He had landed hard on it to try and scrape her off, and it was actually starting to look somewhat battered. "But do you have what it takes to see this battle through to the end? Call upon every hidden reserve of strength you possess! You can do this! I believe in you!"
"Heavy on the cheese there, buddy," Valey replied, smoothing her fur, still burning from where she had high-speed grappled his tail. "You wanna motivate me, give me some I can actually eat instead. After I finish kicking your tail!"
Wallace laughed, bounding toward her again, using his better wing as a shield. Valey had no doubt it was about to swipe at her and send her flying, and she backed up and circled, trying to stay out of the range of his impending attack. Her cutie mark surged with danger, telling her she wasn't safe anyway, so she spread her wings and flew.
She skidded to a stop what should have been a safe distance away, but the pain didn't die down, sitting at a new constant level. "Come on, what's wrong!?" she growled, slapping her flank with a wing as Wallace approached again. "I really need you right now..."
Wallace wasn't about to wait for her mark to sort itself out. He charged toward her, head raised to use as a hammer, and Valey's cutie mark didn't have much room to intensify and warn her what direction it was coming from. For the first time in all her fights against him, true fear gripped Valey's heart as she blindly guessed at a swipe from the left. Instead, a talon came in from the opposite direction, balled into a fist and clipping her wing as she frantically changed momentum.
"Bananas," Valey hissed, forced into a defensive war she knew she couldn't win. She was actually getting somewhere! Why did she have to go out like this!?
It wasn't fair, but it was smart. If her cutie mark wasn't working, she couldn't fight and would lose by carrying on. But if it was, then something seriously bad was coming and she needed to be out of the tournament and as far away from it as possible. She almost hesitated...
But at the same time, coming to the tournament semifinals only to surrender was not what she had come here to do.
"Bananaaas!" Valey cried, launching herself into an all-out attack she knew would be her last chance. Wallace's head came in for a close-distance peck; one of his eyes was already blackened. That was easy enough to knock away. His injured side was right there...
A balled-up talon slammed into her, and she was out like a light.