//------------------------------//
// 0-2 Settling the Score 
// Story: Mercenary Tales 
// by Slendy 
//------------------------------//

"Do you really have to fight?" The one voice of reason on this fine afternoon, the charcoal filly Astra, stared between the two present on a dirt courtyard surrounded by white archways that led within th buildings of the Castle. She sat on a boulder in the corner of the square lot, a few other Guard ponies present, even some of the Night Guard which was a rare occurrence. All were biting their hooves in anticipation. 

"Don't interfere, kid," W spoke up, eyes never leaving her target, licking her lips as her fingers curled in and out with a tremble in her chest. 

"This is between us," Cliffheart added, no less prepared, tapping his armored hoof off the ground, red magic sparking at the tip of his horn. 

The tense silence flowed for a few more seconds. Then a snap and pop resounded, and a long knife was drawn in W's right with several throwing knives between W's left knuckle. Cliffheart snapped his bo-staff together, giving it a quick twirl to point it toward his enemy. 

"And it ends here," W growled, her grenade launcher by Astra as the result would be a lot of unneeded harassment about property damage, unfortunately.

"Okay..." Cliffheart grinned smugly, bending low. "Let's dance!"

Three knives were flung forward, swatted toward the dirt as a silver canister rolled into view, releasing a blast of smoke in Cliffheart's face. He remained calm, twirling his polearm to both defend his front and banish the dark cloud. He grunted, feeling his right side fold under W's boot as she tossed him across the courtyard, bounding on him in seconds with her knife leveled. 

Cliffheart rolled, erecting a barrier that shattered on contact with her knife's edge, to his surprise, she withdrew a short sword from behind her back, slashing horizontally to connect with another small hardlight surface. The ponies looked on in awe, seeing their Captain and the 'Beast of the Everfree' exchanging blows, blade met barrier, a polearm smacking off the flat surface of the swords with an errant spark. The pair danced in a thrilling back and forth, furiously pushing for a single connecting blow. 

W was being kited toward one of the archway pillars, so she dove back with her feet pressed to the wall, evading Cliffheart's horizontal as she doubled back with a vertical, her body curving left with her blades against his staff as it flung her down. He split the staff, smacking W's across the side, and jabbing her thigh. She rolled away, blocking the flying sticks that circled her, striking like an animal in a cage while Cliffheart rushed her. 

Her eyes slit with a sharp grin he knew all too well, his hooves tripped over themselves, diving left as the flash grenade covered his vision in black spots, followed by a solid snap kick to his stomach. W spun in the air, using his body as a springboard to kick the Captain again, slamming him into a pillar himself. "That all ya got, Captain!?"

The answer was simple, judging by the burning sensation around her ankle, a long red tendril of magic swiping W into the air upside down, the polearm rebuilt and aimed for her gut. She panicked slightly but managed to compose her thoughts long enough to toss her knife at Cliffheart, forcing him to divert his staff's trajectory, good. Reaching around her back, she swung the strap of her grenade launcher forward, pulling the trigger hard and fast as a concussion grenade tore up dirt in the red pony's direction, interrupting his magic. 

Loading a new grenade, W picked up her sword in time to block an overhead slam, followed by a jab that she side-stepped and shoved away with her palm. The two squared off, grinning away like a couple of children. Cliffheart's horn radiated red ether, while W's locks began to billow from her own cold wind, silvery blades forming a cyclone around her body. Her ribs felt like snapping, and her left arm was twitching from the strain, but the crocodile smile splitting her lips couldn't be further from the pain.

The ground fissured underfoot, W's serrated storm curled around her sword from the right boot, Cliffheart's magic and polearm from the left. Two strong steel objects split the sky, then another from either leg to form two connecting crosses. Their weapons came down hard, connecting the entire way down, creating a ring of scarlet and silver by their feet, arcs of light billowing around them. 

Then a simultaneous thrust, pitting the blunt force of a staff against a blade-tip, the brittle tension crackling at the epicenter. They tore past one another, cutting their opponent's cheek before doubling back with a cry on either end, diving to strike with two constant crescents that met at a fulcrum, bleeding red and silver lightning that crackled and burst, blasting the pair away from one another. 

It didn't stop, through the lingering luminescence of their magic and arts they slashed relentlessly, cuts formed on either side, squeezing in an attack wherever possible as the heated exchange ramped up higher and higher, the two former enemies yelling at one another before hammering their weapons together twice. 

*Tiiiiing!*

It was sudden, and neither realized it until they fell backward from the wind pressure that followed, but both the polearm and sword now lay several meters from them, a few were surprised by this, some made themselves scarce and a few even made sounds of disappointment at the interruption. "Grah, what the hell, we were just getting ramped up you aaaa..." W's voice died in her throat, blinking up innocently to the furious stare glowering down at her, a brow twitching. W waved curtly. "Yo, Sora, h-how's life?"

He lowered his silver swords, sheathing them before addressing the lingering ponies. "Please return to whatever you were doing before this spar - I will overlook this-" That brought a sigh of relief, grateful to the benevolent prince before his glare returned to the pair below. "-but you two... I swear to God... What Were You Thinking!?"

"...that we wanted to spar, duh?" W dug her grave further before standing up to dust herself off with a witty smile. "I think it's safe to say we're all tied up, Capy."

"Y-yeah, definitely ain't getting anywhere," He shrank under Sora's glare. "I-I'll just um, head on back to work... uh, yep, seeya around, Prince, Beast!" He vanished without a trace.

"He ditched me, figures," W rolled her eyes. Then W doubled over with a curse under her breath, a hellish pain erupting in her side for a moment as her left arm went numb. "Hah... shit...!"

"W/Mama!" Sora caught her shoulders while Astra ran to the Sarkaz's aid.

"I told you not to overexert yourself," Sora berated, sitting her down to relax her muscles. His frown was stitched but his eyes were replaced with worrying orbs. "Magic barely works on you, even Mir's potions-"

"Thanks for the tip, kinda figured as much in my first week," W murmured.

"W, this is serious, you could worsen your condition!" Sora raised his voice slightly, holding her biceps tightly. "You think I want that? Or Astra?"

"Of course I don't!" She yelled, pulling away sharply as her hands trembled to push herself onto her feet. "But ya don't get it, Sora! Weeks we've been at each other's throats, and when it finally came down to the wire, all he got was a battered bitch you couldn't even fight back, that's not a victory, all that was to him was a slap to the face, same goes for me!" 

W hated it, she wanted to rub that smug Cliffheart's muzzle into the dirt, she wanted to feel beaten and bruised and still come out on top, proving she was the better fighter at the end of their rivalry. Instead, circumstances changed, and before long, Kranon was dead and gone, but neither felt satisfied with that outcome. No, Kranon robbed them of their final confrontation. In the last five minutes, that nagging feeling was gone, a weight disappearing from her shoulders.

The silverette turned away, grabbing her weapons from the training yard. "I'll go back and heal, happy?" She hissed. W wasn't dumb, she gets it, her body needs to heal, and Sora was right to worry, hell, Astra tried convincing the two to call off the match. W was just stubborn, more than anyone could handle. 

Limping was the best she could afford, clutching her side as it flared with pain. Then came the soft warm bundle around her right leg, helping to support her leg. Astra used her small body to brace W's leg. Blinking, the same thing happened to her left arm, wrapping it around Sora's shoulders to lean the girl against his side. "You know, watching you limp is really just sad," He didn't look at her, a tiny twitch of a smile etched to the corner of his lips. "I'm gonna kick Cliff's ass later for this..." The Prince grunted.

"I won't stop you," Astra perked up, no less impressed since Cliffheart was the one who instigated the whole sparring match. 

W stared between the pair, her tail curling to hold herself closer to Sora as she leaned her head against his shoulder. She was stubborn, but these two could live with it. 


End