//------------------------------// // 37: A Sand Floor // Story: The Night's Shining Armour // by Appleody //------------------------------// Chapter 37 Part of me really can’t believe it. How can this be happening as well? Welp, I guess this is just one of those days where things just keep piling up. Alongside a drawn-out sigh, my shoe continued to absently scratch at the sandy floor, in order to highlight my internal disappointment to the many watching eyes. Turning my helmet this way and that, I tried to gather how bad my situation actually was. Seeing as we were in the middle of a colosseum it didn’t feel too great already. One problem with my attempts, was the incessant persistent brightness that just would not leave me alone. You’d think after a little bit of time out in the sun it would be fine like normal, but nope, something even brighter than usual was affecting me. It seemed to be coming from multiple locations, high up on the surrounding walls. Situated somewhere above the seated crowds, which I could make out mainly by their magic more than sight. The sound of their murmuring filling the airways. Another sigh escaped me, as my failure at surveillance left me with no real clues as to what was going to be thrown my way. That was when I remembered the fancy, armour clad minotaur stood to my side. Surely, he knew what was going on, right? Sadly, he was just standing in place, drinking in the spying eyes of the crowds, as he stared up at some distant object. His head never once turning to engage me in conversation, like I’d hoped. Seeing as what had transfixed his attention was likely the only thing that could grant me some insight into what was to come, I followed his gaze. It was quite hard to see, actually taking my equivalent of squinting to make out, whatever that looks like. Anyway, it was a pretty disappointing sight to be honest. A lone balcony stood out separate from the stands, with a guard stood at each edge. While it was a very nice marble balcony, it clearly wasn’t being utilized yet. Whenever that happens, I’m likely in a heap of trouble. That thought would have made me gulp if it were possible. Welp, this sucks. The wait is killing me. Probably not literally, but that light is awful. Is there at least somewhere out of it? Taking a couple steps and scanning the flat sandy floor left me with very little choice of shelter. There was only really some scattered debris across the ground with no discernible purpose. Not only that, but when I moved those few steps, the light seemed to follow me and leave where I once stood slightly dimmer. How wonderful. My sudden antsy movements seemed to finally draw Golden’s attention away from the balcony. If only just for a second. “It’s almost time. He’ll be here very soon, then your trial can begin.” This feels a bit ominous. I think I preferred it when he stayed silent. Not to look a gift pony in the mouth, I decided to latch onto the potential for any form of conversation, even if it wasn’t the most ideal. “So, who’s coming?” That’s a dumb question. It’s pretty obvious who’s coming. Then again, maybe they’re preparing some monster like that giant demon to come and face me? Rather than actually engage in further conversation, the bull simply said, “our king,” before immediately seeming to assume our conversation was concluded, and turning to look back at the balcony. Well, thanks for nothing. Can’t believe the miscalculation I’ve made by agreeing to this. Celestia even tried to save me from it and my empty helmet just had to go and disagree. Wonder what the princesses are doing now? They’re probably still with the king. Thinking back to the regalia I’d generously ‘gifted’ to Loony, I was already aware of my pegacorn still ascending yet more stairs, from the constant shifting upwards of weight on my/her shoes. Focusing upon her tiara however, gave me a better view of the surrounding stairwell. Said Stairwell was ornately decorated with numerous painting and tapestries, which my wearer occasionally glanced at, before looking back to the stair cases end, where bright daylight was flooding in. Sunlight that didn’t seem quite as bright as what currently tormented my true self. Thankfully still accompanying her, Celestia was right beside her. It appeared like she was already in mid conversation about the coming event. “I really do not think this trial is a good idea for Eclipse to complete. It may be preferable to have either of us take their place,” Sunny said evenly to her fellow stair traversers. Well, it’s nice to know she’s looking out for me, even if I’d prefer her not to get in harm’s way. The third member of Luna’s group then annoyingly shot her suggestion down. “We’ve been itching to get you to take to the field for hundreds of years. You’ll get your chance eventually,” the minotaur king prattled. Why on Earth do these guys love fighting? Is their culture really based on war? That really doesn’t fit with what this world has shown so far. Then again, the griffons clearly have a martial culture, not to mention the changelings thriving off of love raids. Are ponies really the only peaceful ones out there? Not noticing my internal questions due to my perceived lack of presence, Celestia responded diplomatically, “yes, and I did make it perfectly clear that such events were not the way of Equestria.” King Iron Hide, the jerk, actually laughed at that, and gave a sideways glance to Luna. “Clearly, they are now.” Please say Luna won’t try to promote this irritating behaviour back home. In response to the bull’s acknowledgment, Luna smiled, “We have always engaged other cultures in their traditions. Thy martial culture is much to Our tastes. It reminds Us of Our triumphant past.” Loony seemed to become a little nostalgic as she finished speaking, gaining a faraway look to her eyes. Hmm, that hopefully means she doesn’t expect ponies to do this sort of thing. A brief throat clear from Sunny, ended the navy pony’s moment in past glories. “That is all well and good sister, but we have to set a good example for our peaceful ponies. Besides, those past trials only had you or I taking part, so there was no harm to our people.” Huh, does that mean Celestia used to volunteer for this sort of stuff in the past as well? She really doesn’t seem like a fighter. Then again she did fight Discord. Well, attempted to fight him. “Our valiant Eclipse has volunteered to take part in such a trial of his own volition. We shall support his decision in this endeavour,” Luna said, her chest fluffing up with pride due to her clear ignorance of my opinion. Maybe not quite aware of my opinion, Celestia continued to fight in my corner. “Our friend is being extremely loyal and is clearly willing to defend ‘your’ honour to the best of their ability.” Sunny pointed hoof at her sister to highlight her words. “However, that does not mean we should allow them to put themselves in this situation.” Huh, at least she isn’t mad about the whole attacking the minotaurs thing. Or, she hides it very well. My favourite pegacorn seemed to dismiss my second favourite’s words with the flap of a wing. “Nay, We see no negative to this. Eclipse stands only to benefit from the coming event. It will hopefully help him cool off after the travesty he experienced.” Erm, not sure how being put into a combat situation could help someone cool off. It seems more like the type of thing to get your blood pumping, or your mist flowing anyway. Wonder if my body temperature is affected by anything? Ignoring the last part, this sentiment seemed to be slightly mirrored by my Solar friend. “You are aware that Eclipse is quite a complicated individual? From how they reacted before, it is safe to assume something similar could happen again.” Unlikely, seeing as this time Loony isn’t the one under threat of being stabbed, but still. Luna’s mouth appeared to open with a potential response, but the minotaur king beat her to it. “That is what everybull is hoping for. To see your weapon working at its peak, and prove that it can still be laid low.” Does that mean he actually wants to kill me? “’Tis Eclipse who will put thee in thy place.” Luna said in an unexpectedly competitive tone. I really don’t understand the stakes. It seems like something terrible is going to happen, but wouldn’t Luna care if I was in danger? Celestia seemed to want to roll her eyes at the two’s display. “Does it really matter?” She made an admirable attempt to keep even a smidge of exasperation from leaking into her tone. A simultaneous, “yes” from the other two beings caused Celestia to let out a breath, just as the group exited the stairs and made their way onto a familiar balcony. One my true self had never stopped staring at. From my position of the ground, I could just about make out the three tall for their kind beings take up positions upon the balcony. The king standing at the front with his hands resting on the balcony, while my friends took up position a step back from him, side by side. The moment just the tips of their horns became visible, the restless crowds all cheered, prompting the king to wave back. Both Celestia and Luna seemed to look down at me, which I could only tell due to being up there with them. Luna even waved a hoof at me, before glancing around the arena, providing me with some much-needed clarity of the area. Afording me a clear view of myself, the arena, the crowds and the previously illusive annoying magical spotlights highlighting my position for the spectators. In response, I gave a brief wave of my shoe in her general direction, which for some reason caused the crowd to cheer even louder. Suppose they’re all staring at me too. It kinda felt a bit overpowering to be honest. Just like the spot lights, which felt just shy of burning me to a crisp. I mean, they were almost blinding me when we first came out here. Part of me really wondered how Golden could withstand the intensity, even though the reason was pretty obvious. One of countless benefits of being a fleshy. My internal complaining was ended, when the king finally spoke up. “Greetings my fellow bulls and cows. Today, has so far been a sad day in our history, where a slight misunderstanding almost led to full blown conflict between us and one of our closest allies. The friendly ponies of Equestria.” As his voice carried through the coliseum, murmuring started to emit from various pockets of the crowds. He then gestured to my two friends with his hands. Luna seemed to switch from happily looking at me, to a more awkward stately smile, unlike her sister who was already smoothly settled into her patented gentle smile the moment her hooves touched the open air. However, the forever serene Celestia’s smile did drop a little, while Luna managed to slip into her royal demeanour, when King Iron said, “do not fear my friends. Thanks to the one responsible taking responsibility for their heinous actions, today shall be remembered gloriously by all instead.” One of his hands fell back to the balcony, while the other gestured towards the coliseum’s centre with an open palm. “Before you all, stands the accused. A being the likes of which Taurus has never seen, and what it seems has yet to face an equal.” More murmuring continued from all around the stands. A swift sigh escaped me at the speech. Huh, yet to face an equal? Pretty sure my rear has been kicked plenty of times in the past. Once by the changelings, once by Discord and once by some random hydra looking creature. Do I really look that tough? More importantly, do I ever even win any fights? “Well, after today, I shall demonstrate the strength of our nation to this strange creation of Equestria, and prove how we still reign equal amongst our friends,” Iron continued, clearly thinking I’m some sort of super weapon. Regardless of his inaccuracy, the murmurs from the crowd started to change into that of cheers. Celestia clearly couldn’t hide her disappointment anymore as she let out a pretty large sigh reminiscent of many of my own. Wonder if that’s because she doesn’t think friendship can be proved by having a fight? If so, I completely agree. Shame Luna seems to like the idea. She seems pretty enthralled by everything that’s going on. Promptly ignoring Celestia’s deteriorating mood, like he had been his entire journey to the balcony, the king’s eyes rested upon me once more. “Now then, let us prepare for the coming event.” How? I’m just sitting here in a load of sand. There isn’t anything here. Suppose that’s how I approach most situations. Minus the sand part, I just sort of sit there and look at what’s happening. Really need to figure out some more proactive measures of dealing with situations. As the words left the king’s mouth, his oversized frame casually stepped over the barrier and off the balcony. Thus, allowing him to drop ten stories to the sandy floor below as if it were nothing. I could do that too, there’d just be a bit of a crash at the end. His hard landing was met with thunderous applause, as he immediately recovered and started to stride confidently towards me. Here’s a bull who is pretty certain about what is about to happen. All I did was stare at him, and would have blanched if it was within the realm of my bodily functions. While my newest headache gained ground on my position, numerous gates began to open, admitting more regular sized minotaurs. I was about to start pointing out how flawed their honour was if they were just going to mob me again, but instead of carrying weapons in their hands ready for battle, the bulls were working together to carry entire weapon racks. Now that was a strange thing to see heading towards you. From my balcony eyes view on top of Loony’s head, it steadily became clearer of the racks intended destinations. One was heading towards my position, while the other was heading to a spot a little distance in front of me. As the distance closed even further, I couldn’t help letting my mist spread out a little at an unexpected sight, before immediately retracting it due to the uncompromising spotlight’s gaze. The weapons on the racks… they were all magical, just like the ones the minotaurs had on the battlefield. From the way my mist was trying to react, it almost felt like I was salivating. The feeling becoming even more intense once a rack was placed right beside me. It took a monumental amount of will not to just go and grab the closest sword and drain it dry. They were just that tasty. Like a forbidden fruit, or Discord statue. Ah, same thing. Giving my helmet a quick shake to distract myself, I glanced up towards the bull and found that his hoofsteps had ceased a mere ten metres from my position. His own identical rack being placed beside him. The only difference being that the weapons on his rack were much bigger and heavier. So big and heavy in fact, that there was no way a single minotaur should be able to wield one effectively, not even him. Why on earth would Iron Hide want something as big as those? He’d have to be as big as that weird demon thing Luna fought. Seeming to somehow take notice of my eyeless form inspecting him, the king made a show of looking around at the various members of the crowd, before his eyes rested upon my rack. “So… honourable challenger, have you selected a duelling implement? You are free to choose from either rack.” Yeah, like I’m going to choose a hammer as big as me. Deciding to completely ignore the rack next to my adversary, my helmet turned to my own personnel buffet… weapons rack. Nothing really drew me to any particular weapon. They all seemed like a tasty sharp thing that you hit someone with. Basically meaning, I had no idea how to properly use any of them. Well, other than hit the other guy with the pointy end. With that in mind, it seemed like a good idea to ask my soon to be tormentor. “Do you recommend any?” That brief question seemed to cause the bull, who was just waiting to smash me, to look a little intrigued. “Your creator chose a straight sword. Maybe that will be to your taste?” His hand then vaguely gestured at the rack, giving me absolutely no indication as to which of the weapons he was talking about. Thanks for the lack of help. Don’t get me wrong, he eliminated the axe’s, spears and two sticks connected by chain, but that isn’t saying much when there are six different swords. Saying that, one of the swords looked vaguely familiar. One that I’d seen only a few hours ago in the hoof of my closest friend. It was easy to recognise, partially due to the intricate designs engraved into it, but mainly due to the residue of her magic it contained. I’d recognise Loony’s magic anywhere. Using my best diplomatic attempt to ingratiate myself to the bull, I said, “that sounds like a good idea.” Without any further prompting, I raised my shoe and grasped the hilt of the fancy looking magical sword. The moment my shoe made contact; I couldn’t help letting the tiniest amount of my mist rub up against the tantalizing magic it contained. Oh, it was simultaneously amazing and torturous. I mean, it was like I could only lick an amazing medium rare steak. One that had the finest Diane sauce. The handle of the blade actually darkened with how much my mist clung to it, completely heedless of the spot light’s wrath. It took me a little bit to regain my composure and stop staring in a stupefied fashion at my carrot on the end of a stick. My empty eye holes shot back to the minotaur who’d just been casually observing me. He probably thought I was inspecting the weapon like some expert warrior or something, because he nodded to me respectfully, before looking at his own ridiculously oversized rack. One which also contained another weapon quite reminiscent of one from Luna’s earlier duel. A weapon the strange oversized minotaur demon was wielding to fight her. From the way he was looking, Iron seemed like he might actually choose it. Something that seemed like a bad choice due to his relatively small size in comparison to the demon’s. That was really saying something as well. Just as the hostile king’s hand began to reach forward, the earlier observed orange magic within his chest flared up without any warning. The flash of which looked very familiar for a good reason, as the bull’s size started to increase, which should really be impossible for a fleshy. I mean, where would all that extra mass come from? The air? Anyway, as his size increased and his armour grew along with him, I’m not ashamed to admit that I took a couple of hesitant shoe steps back. His size eventually stopped at what could only be the demon’s that fought Luna before. Really didn’t think he was that weird giant thing. He somehow seemed much more monstrous back then, when he was trying to stove in Luna’s cute little head. Without pausing his movements, King Iron Hide’s now immense hand effortlessly picked up a giant axe, one that could squash a pony flat in a single blow. Wonder if that thing could squash me flat? The immense amount of magic would allow it to easily damage me. Oh, I really don’t want to risk death just for a stupid honour duel. As the King turned to me while effortlessly swinging the axe onto his shoulder, I suddenly became aware that the regular minotaurs had already cleared off out of the arena. Even my escort Golden had walked off without so much as a wave good bye. Wait, does that mean this has started? I can’t be hit with that thing! “Erm, King Iron Hide?” I asked a little less nervously than I felt. The now behemoth of a bull, steadily cracked his neck before regarding me. “Yes Eclipse, are you fully prepared?” “Well… erm you see… the thing is erm…” I started to say, a little unsure of how to sort out the situation. My broken speech inspiring the bull to laugh deeply. Oh well, here goes nothing. “So, this isn’t a fight to the death, right?” From the way his laughter died all at once in his throat, that question may have actually offended him. “Don’t be ridiculous. How can our victory be lauded over you if you’re dead?” Staring straight at his glowing implement did not make his words less comforting than they should have been. Even if this isn’t meant to be to the death, that nasty amount of magic may result in my accidental end. “Soooo, when do we stop fighting?” The faster I lose, the less likely my death is. In an unexpectedly dextrous manner, Iron swung the axe off his shoulder and planted it upon the ground, before casually using it to support his oversized frame. “When one of us gives up and declares the other a winner. Or when one can no longer fight. Whichever comes first.” The way he spoke made it sound like the answer was obvious. Now, that’s the first piece of good news I’ve heard since wandering in here. I’d practically be beaming if I could. Maybe a little too enthusiastically, I went ahead and said, “oh, okay then… you win. I declare you victorious.” Maybe, I was just a little too pleased with myself, as it took me a moment to realize the sudden silence that had descended upon not just the King, but the entire crowd. All that was needed was a couple chirping crickets to finish the scene. My now victorious adversary did another double take when I followed up by saying, “that’s in the rules, right?” “Nay Eclipse, thou can do this. We believe in thee!” came a simultaneous distant and close by shout from my navy friend. When I tilted my helmet in her direction, it took a little effort not to call back with, ‘I don’t care about winning.’ Instead of saying that, and making my situation any more tense, I refrained and decided to just glance at her. She was apparently so invested in this, that my sudden but inevitable surrender had caused her to rear up and place her forehooves onto the balcony’s barrier. She was practically leaning as far forward off the balcony as she could, without falling off. I’d have been a little nervous, but from her perspective, a gold clad hoof was clearly visible pinning her starry tail to the floor. Hopefully, Celestia’s sneaky intervention will prevent any thing unfortunate happening. Then again, Luna has wings, so what does it matter. From Loony’s new regalia, the older sister could be heard saying, “this is something we should probably have seen coming.” “Oh, maybe thou art correct. He hath always tried his best to avoid social conflict,” Luna responded in a disappointed tone as she whirled around to look at Celestia, who was already giving her a sympathetic smile. “We wish We could be down there with him. A fair duel would be no challenge for one such as Eclipse… if he tried.” Okay, didn’t think my decision was going to ruin Loony’s opinion of me. A sisterly wing had already snuck its way across Luna’s back as she continued to fret. “Come on Lulu, the completely untrained Eclipse would probably never want to fight without some extenuating circumstances. Though they may appear to quite literally suit a military environment, I think they prefer more laid-back situations. It actually surprises me that they choose to be armour most of the time rather than something more civilian… like that dress they are for you from time to time.” Aside from the dress comment, I agree with that. Fabric just feels a bit flimsy for me to use all the time... not to mention how feminine it makes me look. That’s enough of a problem forming into armour for a lithe mare, rather than a stocky stallion. Apparently, there is a difference. A look of guilt seemed to spread across Luna’s face, as her ears folded back. “But... he hath defended Equestria on multiple occasion by his own choice. He hath even sook out conflict alone to rescue thou from the changelings. Is this not a similar situation to the aforementioned?” Luna finished seeming to try to clutch onto anything. The head tilt her sister returned, only showed how little Celestia agreed with that sentiment, inspiring Luna to a slight change of heart. “Then, maybe we should go down and collect him? We do not wish for him to be afraid.” “There does not seem to be any need to do that, Eclipse has already ended the situation. It may be in a way that will upset the minotaurs, but it is fair enough,” Celestia replied, her hoof reassuringly patting Loony’s side. She seemed so calm until the slightest of tremor suddenly hit her smile. One that married up with her gaze turning to me. “Besides, I am fairly certain they are not scarred. They look more annoyed from up here.” How on earth does she think she can tell what I’m thinking right now? I bet she’s just projecting her own opinion onto me or something. Should I say something? They both seem to have forgotten I’m up there with them. The gruff voice of the less than pleased victorious minotaur interrupted that thought, bringing me back to myself. “So, after all of this, you just cave?” Okay, I’m almost through this. Just don’t upset anyone any further. “Well, I didn’t realize I was signing up for a fight to be honest. I don’t really see any reason for anyone else to be hurt because of my mistake.” There, that’s the best I’ve got. It seems reasonable enough to me. An unexpected laugh escaped Iron at my declaration, before he grinned at me. “Rather presumptuous aren’t you to think you could harm me?” He did say I was Equestria’s greatest weapon. Doesn’t that imply he thinks I can hurt him? Unless he truly believes that nothing in any other nation could possibly pose a threat. That’s almost as stupid as Shinning saying the minotaur’s definitely have no way to block pony magic. Besides, the main part of not wanting anyone to get hurt includes saving my own mist. He'd probably be fine. From the way he speaks, Iron’s skull has probably met plenty more blunt objects than just my shoes. He continued to say, “do you truly not understand how this trial works? You’re meant to be the advisor to Equestria’s diarchy.” Well, how else was I supposed to respond to a phrase like that, other than to tilt my helmet and shrug my wings. That act caused the king to slowly shake his head in disapproval, before pointing to his weapon. “Look, these weapons are enchanted to cause physical pain, but also prevent any permanent wounds. You don’t need to worry about being damaged… if the almighty weapon of Equestria is truly afraid.” Hmm, these weapons have a pretty similar glow to the ones the minotaurs were using before, maybe even more so. Not to mention they clearly have weight behind them. “They look pretty deadly to me.” How could they not? They’re weapons, tasty magic weapons at that. Almost like he expected the response, Iron’s massive hand flew down towards the axe head of his weapon. It collided directly with the blade, resulting in a dull thrumming sound, but not the severed fingers I’d half expected. Instead, he simply shook his hand a little at the action. “Only pain metal pony. Are you really going to let your master down by taking the easy way out?” Eyeing the minotaur with a hint of disbelief, I raised my own comparatively small weapon and inspected it. Yep, very glowy, as I suspected. Just because these things only cause pain to a fleshy, doesn’t mean they can’t harm me. What if the magic just destroys my mist like the other weapons? Well, there was one way to find out. A quite unpleasant way, but it makes sense to at least try. Releasing a small quantity of mist from the confines of my armour into the glaring spot light, I swung the blade straight through, expecting the worst. The worst that never actually came. It actually tasted pretty good; the promised pain didn’t really seem to materialise at all. That actually made me double take. Maybe, because the spell doesn’t do damage, I just instinctively eat it instead, is that what’s happening? I know I ate Discord’s spells when they were cast on me, but they still caused me problems. Why wouldn’t this have some effect? Is it the smaller quantity of magic? Can I eat more magic at once now? That was something I wasn’t quite sure of, but to keep up appearances for the bull, I let out a small, “ow.” Just to ensure my theory was correct, another couple of follow up swings were needed, this time at my armour. Each one bounced off my helmet slightly harder than the last, each one feeling pretty good. I’d have kept doing it until the magic ran dry if the bull hadn’t been watching me. It was quite difficult not to look at him a little embarrassed at my actions. He’s probably wondering why he wants to fight the crazy spirit creature that enjoys hurting itself now. That’s not actually a bad thing, come to think of it. A little bit of psychological warfare and all that. From the way he was looking at me, it was pretty hard to tell what he thought of my actions, right up until he let out a much heartier laugh than before. Lightly drumming his fingers upon the axe’s handle, he seemed to have developed a knowing smile. “So, do you still yield? Or will you fight for your mare’s honour?” It was pretty clear he thought my decision was obvious now. Not sure how it could be, I’ve barely moved at all. Up above still on her balcony, I could see Luna with my shoe concealing her mouth. It seemed like she was trying to stop herself from calling out. She’s clearly itching for me to do this. Well, if it isn’t going to do any harm… “Fine, I’m only going to do this because it’s somehow for Luna’s honour and not mine.” I like to think there’s some form of honour within me, but this sort of thing is clearly irrelevant to it. A simultaneously distant and right next to me cheer of Luna’s could be heard at my proclamation. This was swiftly followed up by the bull grasping his axe in two hands. “Excellent, let us begin. We’ve put the proceedings off long enough.” Iron said as he took one very heavy hoofstep towards me. Well, wish we could have had a little bit more of a question answer session. I mean, is magic allowed to be used in this? Can I only use the sword, or can my shoes be used to hit him? What about my mist? It could just drain him straight away. Clearly, none of these questions were going to be answered now. Besides, it’d probably be quite difficult to use my mist effectively under these stupid lights. They’re possibly the only hazardous thing here. The next minute sort of dragged on, as my adversary stood staring at me, clearly in a ready combat position, while I sort of stood there awkwardly. It was almost instinctive for me to tilt my helmet at the absurdity of how we were both waiting for the other to move. Seconds ticked by and the bull only tensed his grip further, not giving anything away. We managed to drag out the first minute for so long, that I made the mistake of glancing away from my opponent, curious as to if anything else was occurring around us. Maybe the two sisters were doing more than staring at the field? Obviously, they weren’t but that momentary lapse broke our stalemate almost instantly, with the sound of rapid heavy hoof beats flying in my direction. It’s a shame my reaction time is so poor, because all I managed to do before the inevitable happened, was turn my helmet back to look at my surprisingly agile opponent, as the axe came swinging towards me filling my view. Huh, not so bad, was the thought that went through my helmet, as I was once again granted the ability to fly without using any effort. A feeling I’ve grown quite familiar with. Sadly, it wasn’t the longest flight, causing my chest piece to scrape along the sandy floor for an additional few shoes, before my journey abruptly ended. That really wasn’t bad at all, the most annoying bit was just the landing. Hope it didn’t scuff me up. Getting hit immediately actually put me into much better spirits, as it demonstrated the incredible lack of threat I faced. It wasn’t even as bad as falling off a bridge in the Everfree. Swiftly jumping to my shoes, still feeling a slight high from the magic I was gifted, it took me a monumental amount of will to duck under the next axe swing that came out of nowhere. Another swing, this time overhead, came slamming down, forcing me to dive to the side, or be hit by the food dispenser. It’s almost so little pain, that I want to be hit. Really need to keep that thought out of my helmet, those swings still have a lot of force behind them. Shaking my helmet, I looked up at my opponent as he readied himself for another heavy blow, clearly placing his now immense bulk behind it. How do I actually harm this guy? He’s huge. My tooth pick isn’t going to do anything. Raising one of my wings, it took the full force of the hit, causing my four shoes to scrape sideways along the ground. This time though, no flight was attained. Still, he can’t harm me either, the worst thing is the sand getting in my shoes. That is so annoying to get out. Wouldn’t want Luna to complain about it again. My distracted thoughts almost led to my helmet being cleanly removed from my chest piece, as Iron taunted out, “is this all the great weapon of Equestria can offer… a punching bag?” Well, you can’t really win against a punching bag, but still, I have to try something. Only one thing for it really. After being goaded, and with not many options, it seemed right to just charge forward with my pointy treat/weapon. All that earned me was a swift kick to my chest piece from an oversized hoof. A hit that would likely have winded a pony with lungs, but only caused me to slide a few shoe steps back. I’d have went further, but liberal use of my floating abilities helped reduce the distance. Still remaining on my shoes, I went forwards again. Then again, then again and again. The same thing played out over and over as he tried to punt me away like some annoying dog. Each time, he actually kicked a little harder, even successfully denting my chest plate on occasion. It didn’t actually damage me though and I can’t get tired, so the same events continued to play out for a little while. Maybe it would wear him down eventually? No way Iron’s stamina is infinite, he’s flesh and blood. Hmm, that is a good point now that I think of it. Is my stamina infinite? I do sleep. Rather than waiting to find out which of us was the immovable object, Iron grunted out, “you are a tenacious one, I’ll give you that,” before deciding to change up his strategy. Probably because he was becoming aware of the same issue as me. This change up turned out to be a gross miss calculation on his part, as one fateful charge, he chose to swing his axe rather than kick me. Now the swing probably would have sent me flying a great deal further, but due to the axes large size and my small size advantage, I was able to skilfully slide under his blow. Well, trip under his blow. Anyway, this tactical decision to fall underneath his axe swing gave me just enough distance to jab my pointy tooth pick into Iron’s gargantuan armoured ankle. My efforts were awarded immediately, by a pained reply through gritted minotaur teeth, “Ah, so the beast has a little bite. Good.” As he instinctively lifted his hoof out of my reach. I would have lunged at him again, but Iron decided to rapidly descend what I believed to be his fleeing hoof right on top of me, in what could only be described as a stamp. A stamp which compressed my limbs together as my chest piece met the sand. He couldn’t quite hold me there, as with all my strength pushing against him, I could steadily lift the weight of his armoured hoof. It didn’t really matter though, as he decided to lift his hoof of his own accord, before smashing me down once again. “This is really annoying,” I couldn’t help but sigh out after he smashed me into the sand for the third time. This whole situation wasn’t really working out for me. He wasn’t even hitting me with his tasty axe. Really wish I could extend spikes from myself right about now; we’d see how well he’d do that with a hoof so full of holes, a changeling would get jealous. Shame all I have is this sword. Huh, that’s an idea. On Iron’s fourth attempt to push me deeper into the sand floor, I lifted up my blade just as his gargantuan hoof came down. The force of his hoof seemed to make the blade bend ever so slightly as it collided with solid surface of his steel shoes. It was almost like the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object, but from Iron’s reaction, the unstoppable force was actually quite stoppable. He seemed to have an immediate moment of realization, as he instinctively lifted his hoof away from the source of pain, causing him to almost topple over. In fact, all it took was for me to stand up causing my helmet to collide with his raised hoof to ensure it, removing what little balance he had left. It was probably quite embarrassing for him to be knocked onto his rear by an accidental helmet butt to the hoof. Rather than waste anytime letting him recover, I clambered forward, climbing over his legs in an attempt to maybe hit his oversized head. Hitting his head may actually have resulted in some form of victory, who knows? Aside from the minotaurs who created this inane challenge. Rather disappointingly, my form never quite reached its target, mainly due to how easy of a target I was climbing over the bull’s front. All he had to do was slightly raise his hand from his side to grasp a hold of me. This did allow me to jab his fingers a few times, but the resulting pain I provided only seemed to fuel the power with which he threw me away. Kind of like an annoying mouse that bit his finger. Due to having slightly more impressive abilities than an irritable field mouse, I didn’t fly anywhere near the distance Iron likely hoped, from the way he stared at me in slight disbelief as I just floated above his head. The disbelief didn’t really last long enough for me to do anything meaningful, my sword was tiny, so when I dived once more for his head, it didn’t even come close before the large axe pelted me like a cricket bat to a ball. The pleasant feeling of the axe’s magic filling me unexpectedly distracted me a little allowing the momentum to carry me much further afield than the more mundane hits. It really made this whole thing feel more and more worth it. Each little bit of magic drained from that axe was amazing. Still pretending to smile from the impact, I landed heavily upon my shoes leaving four miniature craters. “Now, we are getting somewhere,” my opponent laughed out apparently happy at my ability to cause him some problems. Regardless of those problems, he still stood confidently with no sign that any trauma I’d caused was impeding him. Most probably due to the nature of both our weapons. My attempt at a smile slightly dropped at that. At this rate, without being able to drain the minotaur’s magic with my mist, this fight would drag on for the rest of the day. The periodic bursts of magic may even get old by that point. Ha, I don’t think free magic could ever get old for me. Anyway, clearly another strategy was needed, one that could also disable my opponent. If my mist wasn’t going to be useful, how about another none lethal ability? While Iron was casually approaching me at a walking pace, I stood in what appeared to be my usual calm inactive state. However, within my hollow chest piece, my mist began to form into the familiar state of a long-coiled chain. It’d be decent enough. Wrap him up, and the links could do the draining for me, same as last time. Well, in a perfect world, that clearly, I’m not quite a part of. The steady hoof steps towards me, suddenly accelerated similar to the fight’s start. Maybe he thought I looked distracted, which admittedly I was a little, but what little chain was already formed was enough to put a damper on his attack. Once the gap closed to within a few meters, my chain was swiftly ejected towards his rapidly moving legs. The movement of which was impeded greatly the moment my chain went taught around them. It even caused his axe swing to fall disappointingly short into the sand in front of me. At least I could reach it with a shoe to get some magic the old-fashioned way. Almost completely stopping the bull king in his tracks made me feel pretty good. It made me feel even better as his magic started to flow into me. There was only really one problem with my plan. My metallic form wasn’t quite strong enough, even pulling with all my might, to force Iron’s legs together so he would trip. In fact, I’d only really succeeded in tethering myself to a being physically stronger than myself. Something which Iron took full advantage of. Using his oversized hands, he held my chains in place, while stepping out from them. His hands then, to my surprise, did not let go of my chain. The continued physical contact this act afforded almost felt like a positive in my book, due to the magic continuing to flow into me. However, from the way he violently tugged on it and by extension me, it left much to be desired. He sort of started to swing me around his head like a heavy metal ball upon the end of a chain. Something that feels quite unpleasant as it turns out. Especially when the centrifugal force is trying to cause all your limbs to separate. It was a matter of course for me to purposefully split my chain off from myself. Once again, this left me air bound for what felt like the thousandth time this fight. Suppose that’s the only thing Iron can really do to me, but still, this time was different. This time he’d been left smugly holding my chain in his hands. Something which he took great pride in from the way he held it up victoriously to the cheering crowd. He looked a lot less victorious when I had them continue my attack on him. He actually seemed surprised when they tried to bind his arms together. I mean, who wouldn’t be? Using this momentary distraction to my advantage, I flew in for another good stab. It actually gained me several, as I managed to collide with his back and begin trying to pierce his plated armour, while holding on for dear life. The consistent contact even let me claim yet more of his much hungered for magic with my shoes, despite the blaring spotlights hampering my mist. “Begone serpent, you’re in my way,” Iron bellowed as he angrily ripped off my chain and tossed it aside. Feeling my assault upon his spine, he then did what any giant would do, and fell onto his back in an attempt to flatten me. This was unsuccessful as all it took me was letting go to escape. Still, it got me off his weak point. Now he was on the ground, it seemed to only make sense to continue my mostly ineffective assault. If that attack wouldn’t get him to give up, what would? Anyway, ignoring that fact, I charged forward with my chain attacking from another angle. This rewarded me with a butt to the helmet from the oversized axe and my chain stuck flailing uselessly underneath Iron’s giant hoof as he stood back up. Meh, if I’m going to be rewarded with a burst of magic for every magical weapon hit, this fight may as well drag on a little while longer. I mean, my mist would be licking the air in anticipation by now if that stupid light wasn’t throwing me off. Any who, the fight dragged on in a similar manner for well over an hour. There was no clear sign of victory for either of us. For some reason, the fleshy just wouldn’t tire out and I couldn’t really just give up for no reason. Luna’s honour and my hunger demanded it. An opportunity to end the never-ending fight did eventually arise, as Iron decided to do a large wind up for an overhead swing. An overhead swing which I elected not to dodge and instead use as an opportunity to get a hit in. I mean, the worst that could happen was that I’d miss and some tasty magic would be delivered to me. Sadly, when this final swing came, I didn’t manage to achieve a counter hit and no tasty magic was delivered. Instead, my armour was squashed flat by the immense force and even a few pieces had managed to separate from me. Even the crowd seemed to universally wince at the expected pain they thought had been delivered. You know what, that actually did hurt. But why? Looking up at the axe, its glow was all but completely gone. Oh, whoops, in my greed I’d sort of destroyed the safety enchantment. Good job I didn’t consume the one on my sword, otherwise we may have had yet another international incident on my shoes. Everything seemed to go silent for a second as I remained motionless upon the ground debating on what to do. Iron even gained the slightest hint of concern in his eyes as he pulled back his axe to reveal a major dent into what would be my spine. This however disappeared when I steadily uttered one phrase. “I think you got me.” “Really.” He let out an almost surprised breath at my statement, before composing himself. “Yes, what a glorious battle. It seems the title of the Night’s armour was well earned.” He said while his size began to shrink and he kneeled down in an attempt to help me up. A hand was offered to me, which I gladly gripped with a shoe. The moment it began to pull me up, I allowed my form to reassemble and the surface damage to repair itself, much to the surprise of my defeater. “You look like you could go for another ten rounds.” Maybe I could, but with little magic up for a grabs and concern for the wasted lives of everyone watching, what was the point? I mean, the show was good enough to satisfy everyone, right? A small lie would be needed. In an attempt to feign tiredness, my helmet was allowed to hang low, while I said, “no, you got me… I’m spent.” It turns out to be quite difficult to feign tiredness without possessing any of the usual indicators. “I knew even a mighty construct such as yourself couldn’t hold out forever. Everything runs out of steam eventually,” Iron approved, pleased at my words. In fact, from the incessant cheering, everyone watching seemed to be pleased with my response. Well, everyone but a certain pony. “Nay, Eclipse thou can still win,” Luna cried out only really audibly to the people nearest her balcony and my regalia. She’d been enraptured by the battle, clearly enjoying my miniscule triumphs and stressing at my numerous failures. Even going so far as to forget about a box of popcorn she somehow acquired. It would have been quite distracting if I hadn’t chosen to ignore her after my first blunder. The alabaster mare beside her, who’d also been enjoying the show despite her misgivings, reassuringly nudged her sister with a hoof. “You know sister, your way of diplomacy may have actually had some genuine merit for dealing with the minotaurs.” These words caused Luna’s ears to perk up slightly, but she still choked out, “but… We have allowed for Our other to be defeated.” The sadness in her voice was quite painful for me to hear, only exacerbated by how heavily she let her/my shoes hit the floor once she was done leaning over the balcony’s edge. She clearly valued my victory a lot more than me it turns out. Maybe I should have kept going? As I debated on talking directly into her ear, Celestia continued her attempts at reassurance. “Perhaps, but Eclipse’s actions have allowed the minotaurs to think they’ve gotten something over on us for once, without any need to pay tribute.” That probably wasn’t the most reassuring thing for Luna hear, that my failure was good for Equestria, but if it’s true I’m happy with that. Iron then reinforced Celestia’s theory by patting me on the back and saying in a loud voice more to the crowd then me, “such a worthy opponent is to be praised. You have shown the great strength our allies are capable of. Any minotaur would be happy to have someone like you at their side.” In an attempt to help drive the point home, I tried my best to sound honourable. “The honour is all mine King Iron. I’m glad my… erm… creators, have such strong friends. Friends capable of expertly crafting weapons like these.” I punctuated the words by looking at the sword that was still gripped in my shoe. A sword that I’d just finished leaching the remaining magic out of while we spoke. “Your weapons are the tastiest I’ve experienced.”