//------------------------------// // 08. An Ugly Battle // Story: A Kirin Tale // by Leaf Blade //------------------------------// Pinkie breathed a sigh of both exhaustion and relief as she sat on her flank and looked around at the prison room that the Flim-Flam Bros. had all the Kirin trapped in; Rarity and Dazzling Gleam were wandering about, making sure nopony was badly hurt and that everyone had plenty of water and was ready to walk back home, but Pinkie was still just reeling from tiredness. Truth be told, there weren’t very many guards standing between Pinkie’s team and the prisoners; most of the security staff in the tower must’ve been busy getting their butts kicked by Twilight, but taking out the few guys who were left still took the wind outta Pinkie’s sails. No, that wasn’t quite right; what was really bothering Pinkie was her fight with Sunny Day, and more specifically her transformation into a Nirik. She promised herself she wouldn’t do that anymore— after everything she saw with the Storm King, she couldn’t imagine there was any good to becoming a Nirik and spinning out of control, but she still felt the tug on her heart to transform sometimes. She couldn’t deny it, the Storm King made her angry. It made her so angry, just all the time. She hated the Storm King so much, and what they were doing wasn’t right at all, and thinking about it made Pinkie just wanna— “Woah, you girls have been busy,” Sandstorm’s voice distracted Pinkie from her thoughts and she bounced up to meet him. “Sandstorm!” Pinkie squealed as she leapt from the ground and tackled Sandstorm, pinning him under her on the ground. “It’s so good to see you!” “It’s good to see you too, Pinkie Pie,” Sandstorm chuckled, and Pinkie got off him and helped him up. “Glad to see you’re safe.” Pinkie nodded vigorously and gave a bright, shining smile. “Sandstorm?” Dazzling Gleam cocked her head as she approached Sandstorm and Pinkie, the latter of whom was pointing at Sandstorm like ‘hey lookit this guy!’ “What are you doing here? I thought you were with Rainbow Dash’s team?” “I was, but I uh—” Sandstorm shifted around nervously, and Pinkie gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “We ran into Sunny, and I couldn’t— I just—” “It’s okay,” Dazzling said softly, taking Sandstorm’s hoof in hers. “I wouldn’t have been able to face Wood Hammer either. I understand.” “Thanks,” Sandstorm rubbed the back of his neck and looked away from Dazzling and Pinkie, his cheeks tinted a cute bright pink. Sandstorm bolted his head up and looked around. “Hey wait a sec, speaking of Wood Hammer, where is she? Shouldn’t she have been with the other prisoners?” Dazzling Gleam was silent, and Pinkie wasn’t sure what to say either. “Unfortunately,” Rarity chimed in as she joined the others in their little huddle, “things have turned out to be a bit more complicated.” Pinkie felt like that was quite an understatement. If Wood Hammer wasn’t with the prisoners, chances were good that she was already turned into a Nirik soldier. Which meant even if she were still in the tower, rescuing her was gonna get ugly. “So here’s what we’re going to do,” Rarity cleared her throat. “With Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s group down one member, they’re a bit underpowered. And now that we’ve rescued most of the prisoners, what I’m suggesting is that we split our forces.” “So me and Sandstorm take the Kirin back to town,” Dazzling Gleam said, “while you and Pinkie Pie meet up with Rainbow’s group.” “That’s correct,” Rarity nodded. “And once we join with Twilight and Rainbow Dash, we’ll comb the tower for any remaining prisoners and then confront the Flim-Flam Brothers themselves.” “Sounds good to me!” Pinkie cheered. “Yeah,” Dazzling nodded shakily, “sure.” “Something the matter, darling?” “N-no, not really,” Dazzling muttered. “It’s just, Wood Hammer is my girlfriend, and I feel weird leaving her fate in the hooves of strangers, when it should be my responsibility to—” Pinkie loudly scoffed, cutting off Dazzling Gleam’s morose monologue. She looked at Pinkie with a confused glower, but Rarity was just trying not to laugh. “It’s not your ‘responsibility’ to look after your girlfriend, Dazzling Gleam,” Pinkie batted her hoof dismissively, “that’s not how girlfriending works. You take care of each other and look after each other, sure, but you don’t gotta feel obligated to be the one person who takes care of her. That’s just not healthy!” “Pinkie is right, dear,” Rarity added, giving Dazzling Gleam a supportive hoof on the shoulder. “And I promise you, Wood Hammer is in excellent hooves with the four of us.” “Yeah,” Dazzling Gleam nodded, and she looked to be feeling a wee bit better, but she wasn’t entirely convinced. “You’re right. I know you’re right. Thank you, Rarity, Pinkie.” Before Pinkie could respond to Gleam’s thanks with a big hug, Sandstorm called Pinkie over to talk to him one-on-one real quick. “What’s up, Sandstorm?” Pinkie chirped. “Oh, I just wanted to share something with you that I thought you might find kinda interesting,” Sandstorm hummed and poked at the floor, piquing Pinkie’s curiosity. “Since you’re gonna be fighting the Storm King’s whole entire army eventually.” “I do like interesting things,” Pinkie nodded and tapped her hooves, anxiously awaiting to hear the interesting thing. “I, uh,” Sandstorm muttered and bit his lip. “Look, I don’t want the others to hear about this cuz it’s embarrassing, but I turned into a Nirik and lashed out at Twilight and Rainbow.” “Wow, Sandstorm,” Pinkie said grimly, feeling kinda split between wanting to empathize with the guy for losing control of himself— cuz y’know, mood— and being upset that he attacked their friends. “That sucks.” “I know,” Sandstorm hung his head and slouched, and Pinkie decided to roll with ‘empathy’ and gave Sandstorm a supportive pat on the head and lift his chin up a little. “The point is, Twilight and Rainbow didn’t defeat me with just their fighting. I mean, they did do that too, but that’s not the point. “Twilight was all defense, like she refused to throw a punch at all, cuz she wasn’t trying to fight me exactly… it was like she was trying to get through to my heart by letting all of my emotions and attacks smash into her shield. Like she knew that behind all the lashing out, I was just scared and sad. “I dunno, it sounds super dumb when I say it like th—” “No, it sounds good,” Pinkie squeaked, tears in her eyes. “Thank you, Sandstorm, for sharing that with me. I really appreciate it.” Twilight fought a Nirik by trying to get through to his heart? And she won? When Pinkie first turned on the Storm King, she had a theory that she could defeat the Nirik by getting through to their hearts, that she didn’t have to beat them all up or anything, but she couldn’t ever do it— she always got too angry herself. But Twilight actually did it? That meant Pinkie’s theory was actually kinda smart and it was possible! And if Twilight could do it, Pinkie would find a way to do it too! Pinkie’s ears shot up and her stomach turned, and she found herself growling under her breath instinctively. “You okay, Pinkie?” Sandstorm asked. “Yeah,” Pinkie said coldly. “Thanks for the tip, Sandstorm. I think I’m gonna need it sooner rather than later.” Pinkie clambered over to Rarity and clamored for her attention as Rarity and Dazzling Gleam got all the Kirin folk ready to head back to town. “Yo is everypony here ready to go?” Pinkie said anxiously. “Cuz we gotta go go go!” “What’s the rush all of a sudden, Pinkie Pie?” Rarity asked. “It’s better to make sure things get done right than to get done quickl—” “A Nirik is around here,” Pinkie whispered in Rarity’s ear, “and I’m pretty sure it knows where we are and is on its way.” “Oh,” Rarity said bleakly, and her white-furred face somehow managed to get even more pale. “Alright, Dazzling is everypony ready?” “It’s now or never, so yeah,” Dazzling Gleam nodded. Dazzling Gleam led the Kirin to safety with Sandstorm’s help, and Pinkie and Rarity followed behind them to the entrance, watching them leave and waiting behind in an eerily empty circular room, no choice but to patiently await for the predator who approached them. And they weren’t waiting long either; a pitch-black Nirik with a mane of splintering, blood-red thorns that reached all the way to her back trotted into the room, blood red glowing eyes locked directly onto Pinkie and Rarity. She wasn’t any larger than Pinkie or Rarity, but she felt massive to Pinkie, who shuddered in fear at her approach. Though it didn’t help that there were two of them, exactly identical down to the last feature. “Hm,” Rarity puffed up her cheeks, letting out an awkward laugh to try and deflate the tension. “Well that’s troubling.” “I think it’s just magic,” Pinkie calmly explained, locking eyes with the Nirik who didn’t seem intent on getting too much closer, as it just stared Pinkie and Rarity down from across the room. “Some kind of clone jutsu, y’know?” “I suppose,” Rarity took a deep breath and scraped a hoof across the floor. “Any suggestions on how we defeat it?” “We can’t just beat her up,” Pinkie shook her head, fluffy mane rattling all about and ears flopping this way and that. “We need to get through to her heart, and help her release her rage so that she can transform back into a Kirin.” “How do we do that?” Rarity arched an eyebrow, and Pinkie giggled bashfully. “I have no idea.” “Well then,” Rarity rolled her eyes playfully and lit up her horn with a blue light, “I guess ‘we just beat her up’ will be Plan A!” Rarity lunged forward, brandishing a whip of sparkling glass that formed in the air above her. One of the Wood Hammers jumped in front of the other as Rarity struck down with her whip, but Rarity’s attack was not only completely ineffective, but Pinkie could feel even at a distance how Wood Hammer was absorbing Rarity’s magic away from her, the whip disappearing into Wood Hammer’s body… …only to reappear quickly under Wood Hammer’s control as it lashed out against Rarity. Pinkie Pie jumped into the way of the attack, getting an ugly slash across her face for her trouble, but Rarity threw out a sparkling glass shield that shattered Wood Hammer’s whip as it went in for a second attack. “That’s certainly an interesting defense Wood Hammer has,” Rarity said, releasing her shield and taking a defensive stance in front of Pinkie, who rubbed her hoof on the bloody gash across her cheek. Wood Hammer though stayed completely still, merely glowering at the two Kirin who opposed her. Her clone though? Her clone charged right at Pinkie and Rarity, with Rarity re-summoning her shield to defend them, but the clone simply phased not only through the shield, but Rarity’s body as well, sending a visible shiver down Rarity’s spine. Pinkie slammed her hooves on the ground and caused the clone to float harmlessly in the air, but before Pinkie could even think to breathe a sigh of relief, she realized that Wood Hammer Classic had somehow managed to get behind her. It was a good thing Rarity was there to beat Wood Hammer Classic back with her shield, cuz if Rarity had been even a second slower, Pinkie could’ve been ripped in half or some other gruesome thing. Honestly, Pinkie didn’t know what would happen cuz she still hadn't seen Wood Hammer’s offensive skillset in action, and she’d prefer to keep it that way to be quite honest! Unfortunately, just as Pinkie was thinking that, Hammer’s clone absorbed the magic that was keeping it floating in the air, and it fired an explosive blast of magic directly at Pinkie as it hit the ground, blowing Pinkie away and causing her body to floppily tumble across the ground like a stone skipping across a pond. Rarity was managing to keep Wood Hammer Classic at bay with her shield, which Hammer didn’t seem to be able to absorb, so that meant Hammer’s absorption ability was probably only usable on attacks? But then what about Pinkie’s float magic? That’s not an attack… Pinkie only had a second to ponder, but it suddenly hit her like a train what was going on when she realized that Wood Hammer’s clone had suspiciously disappeared while Wood Hammer was weakly attacking at the shield. Pinkie wanted to shout a warning, to tell her that Wood Hammer’s clone was going to attack her from behind while she was distracted by the Classic, but her brain moved faster than her mouth and by the time her voice caught up to her thoughts, the clone was already behind Rarity and on the attack. The clone lashed out with a brambly claw of thorns as Pinkie screamed Rarity’s name, but Rarity merely scoffed and split her shield in two, effortlessly blocking the clone’s attack, Pinkie allowing herself a satisfied giggle at how smoothly Rarity had this battle under control. Until her shield disappeared, absorbed into the clone’s body and leaving Rarity wide open to attack. Pinkie rushed to try and defend Rarity, but the clone slashed a gnarled claw into her body before Pinkie could reach them, tearing Rarity’s skin and leaving several bloody gashes across her side as they tore through her, dragging her along their arc and pushing her away from her second shield, opening her up to another attack from the real Wood Hammer. That attack never connected with Rarity, as the real Wood Hammer’s massive claw of thorns was stopped dead by Pinkie’s aura that turned the thorns into immovable petrified wood, Pinkie breathing blue smoke from her mouth as her fur turned pitch black and her mane twisted into an array of deadly thorns that mirrored Wood Hammer’s transformation. Pinkie was furious at the idea of just standing back and letting Rarity be hurt, and if Pinkie had to transform into a Nirik to save her friend? Fine. She could see through Wood Hammer’s technique now; this battle would be over quickly, and if Pinkie couldn’t open Wood Hammer’s heart, Pinkie would at least beat her into submission. The clone tried to lunge at Pinkie, but she just reeled in her legs and then hit the clone in the head with a powerful buck that sent the clone flying. Classic Wood Hammer jumped back defensively, but Pinkie snarled at her and froze the enemy Nirik’s hooves to the ground by petrifying them. Pinkie knew exactly how to get through Wood Hammer’s seemingly impervious defense; only the clone could absorb magic, but it had no defense against Pinkie’s hooves. And the real Wood Hammer had no defense against Pinkie’s magic. This fight was as good as over. But no… no, it wasn’t even close to over, was it? Not as long as Wood Hammer’s heart remained mangled by rage. “I get it, Wood Hammer,” Pinkie growled, her voice resonating with an unearthly harshness. “I get it. The Storm King conquering your grove is unfair, being betrayed by your friend hurts like hell, your friends not even being able to come to your rescue-” Pinkie shook her head and let out a furious snarl “-I can’t even imagine the pain you’re going through! You have every right to express that pain, and not let it be smothered by fear or whatever those bastard brothers did to you!” Pinkie raised her forehooves and stomped them hard on the ground, practically shaking the whole building. “So come at me with all you’ve got!” Pinkie roared. “Come at me until you’ve got nothing left! I can take it!” Pinkie charged at Wood Hammer and laid into her with several solid punches, but unsurprisingly Wood Hammer just absorbed them all before releasing an explosive shockwave that launched Pinkie away, causing her to hit the ground like a sack of thrown meat. But Pinkie wasn’t even close to done yet. “I’m not gonna let the Storm King do whatever she wants to anymore!” Pinkie screamed, a wall of petrified wood forming behind her. “I’m not gonna let her keep taking people’s lives, and even their emotions, away from them!” And with that, Pinkie’s wall exploded into a shower of splinters that rained down on Wood Hammer’s body, exploding into a cloud of dust as Pinkie breathed heavily, her Nirik form beginning to fade as she put every last drop of magic she had into that attack. She wanted to spur Wood Hammer’s rage, to grind her gears until they exploded and she had no choice but to release her emotions, and maybe it was a bit ironic that Pinkie only succeeded in doing that to herself, because Wood Hammer? Wood Hammer still had quite a bit of rage left, as she stepped out of the dust cloud seemingly unfazed by Pinkie’s attack— a little bit of shrapnel even phasing right through Wood Hammer’s body as a reminder of how worthless Pinkie’s attack was— Pinkie falling to her flank in shock and hopelessness. Wood Hammer’s eyes burned with fury as she scraped a hoof across the ground before charging straight at a helpless Pinkie, who shut her eyes tight and braced herself for the attack. Instead, a metallic clang resonated in Pinkie’s ears, and when she opened her eyes she saw Rarity standing in front of her, shield raised to defend from Wood Hammer’s attack. “That’s some interesting magic you have, Wood Hammer,” Rarity said with a single cackle, “I certainly hope you don’t mind if I borrow it!” Rarity’s shield exploded with a shockwave of magic that sent Wood Hammer flying, and Pinkie’s eyes widened in disbelief as Rarity managed to adapt her shield to copy Wood Hammer’s absorption and reflection ability, after only having seen it this one time. Rarity was amazing. “I’m not going to let you stand on your own anymore,” Rarity said to Pinkie, though her eyes were firmly focused on Wood Hammer who was recovering from Rarity’s attack. “I’m going to fight the Storm King as well! I won’t let anypony else be hurt by them!” “Thank you, Rarity,” Pinkie said softly, struggling to stand up. She couldn’t be resting on her flank while Rarity was fighting, now could she? “I thought I could open up Wood Hammer’s heart, but I failed.” “Hmm,” Rarity glanced over at Pinkie and shook her head. “I wouldn’t count yourself out just yet, darling. After all, you opened up my heart at least.” “Rarity,” Pinkie said fondly, hoof over her heart, but then she gasped. “Rarity! Your shield!” There was a big crack in Rarity’s shield from where Wood Hammer’s hoof collided with it, but Rarity didn’t seem concerned. “It’s fine, sweetheart,” Rarity giggled. “I can just repair it, see?” And sure enough, she sutured up the crack in the shield and it was good as new, but it still seemed weird that the shield got damaged like that at all, didn’t it? Maybe Rarity’s copy of Wood Hammer’s magic just wasn’t as strong as the real thing. Or maybe… Pinkie looked over at Wood Hammer; she was on her hooves again, but she didn’t seem intent on charging Rarity or Pinkie. She almost seemed… sluggish. Like she was in pain. And then it dawned on Pinkie; every piece plopped into place. “She takes damage,” Pinkie whispered, and Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but Pinkie cut her off. “She takes damage! Even when she absorbs an attack, the attack still hits her! That’s why she uses the clone too, I bet! Her ‘ultimate defense’ isn’t a defense at all, it’s a high-risk high-reward attack!” “Well then,” Rarity grinned, both her and Pinkie looking over the weakened Wood Hammer with gleams in their eyes, “I suppose this fight will simply come down to who can take the most abuse before falling down.” “And I’m feeling pretty dang sturdy right now,” Pinkie growled, bloodthirsty grin on her face. Pinkie took a deep breath and felt the magic of nature flowing through her veins, and then she popped into the air, bouncing over toward Wood Hammer but bouncing away again before she could attack, and then bouncing on air in every direction she could think of just to get Wood Hammer’s head spinning. She threw some pocket confetti down on Wood Hammer to disorient her even more, and Rarity threw several shards of crystal that hit their mark on Wood Hammer directly, and even though she absorbed them, when she launched her counterattack, it completely whiffed thanks to Pinkie’s mobility and Wood Hammer’s disorientedness. Wood Hammer re-summoned her clone, and it was able to grab Pinkie in its jaws before Pinkie could react, but she threw some pocket confetti at it and that exploded and forced it to let go, Pinkie bouncing away right into the waiting Wood Hammer Classic’s punch, which clanged uselessly against Rarity’s shield. Rarity’s intervention couldn’t have been more perfectly timed, and her shield that absorbed the punch fired it back on Wood Hammer, sending her careening to the other side of the room. And just for good measure, Rarity pitched the shield at the clone’s head, knocking it to the ground. Pinkie charged up her magic, feeling safe with Rarity’s protection, and once she was properly charged, sprang into the air and bounced toward Wood Hammer. “This is the final blow, Wood Hammer!” Pinkie shouted, her hoof crashing against Wood Hammer’s head and knocking her for a loop, her body tumbling across the ground. Wood Hammer tried to stand up, but Pinkie quickly jumped on top of her and pinned her to the ground, delicately placing her forehead against Wood Hammer’s even as the Nirik snarled and gnashed her teeth. Their horns touched, and Pinkie hummed a gentle tune. It was a song her mom had taught her, one that had been close to her heart for a long time, and always helped her remember who she was whenever she started to forget. She hoped it could do the same for Wood Hammer. Rarity stood by and watched carefully as Pinkie continued to hum, holding Wood Hammer in a hug as the Nirik tried to struggle and fight Pinkie off, but because Wood Hammer had been so worn down by the battle, she wasn’t able to overpower Pinkie. And soon, her struggles became faint, as flecks of ash flew off of her body until her Nirik form had completely faded, and Wood Hammer returned to normal. She breathed heavily as Pinkie stood over her, but Pinkie quickly hopped off and lent a hoof to Wood Hammer to help her off the ground. It was nice, to see the real Wood Hammer now; she was an oak-brown Kirin with golden scales, and a fluffy burgundy mane. She had very chiseled features, but her eyes looked so soft, and they held a kind of motherly glow to them. “Hey,” Pinkie said. “Hey,” Wood Hammer replied, her voice heavy with grief. “What do you need?” “Honestly?” Wood Hammer sighed and rubbed her head. “I need a drink.”