//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: The Race is On Part 2 // Story: The Best Babysitter // by pchn00 //------------------------------// Chapter 11: The Race is On Part 2 It was official. Sword fighting sucked. It looks cool in the movies. And if this were like, the new Final Fantasy Jennifer would be all over the semi-medieval combat the game simulated. But it turns out (and she’s not sure WHY this surprised her so much), that even a small cut from a sword hurt. A lot. She didn’t understand why people in popular media who got these small nicks and cuts shrugged it off like it didn’t happen. Discord was clearly much better with a sword than she was. She was feeling confident at the start of their fight. His wide swings had seemed clumsy and slow. His lunges and thrusts were very clearly choreographed and she could see them coming a mile away in time to get her shield in the way. She soon realized however he was just toying with her. After one exaggerated slash that she had moved her sword up to block, in a flash he had switched directions and the overhand chop became a horizontal slash, opening a thin red line across her belly. It wasn’t deep, she knew she wasn’t going to DIE from it alone…but she was still bleeding. Then it went on. She’d block a few of his clumsy strikes, and in a blink he’d follow them up with a lightning fast move that scored another hit. She had several cuts on both arms and legs, her right shoulder, and her stomach. Breathing heavily it was all she could do to lift her shield or sword to catch one of his sweeping strikes. “Oh come now, running out of steam already? It’s not so fun when the other guy has one too is it?” Discord taunted his tiring opponent, swinging out a lazy slash toward her head. Wearily Jennifer lifted her shield. Grunting under the impact she mentally prepared herself for the next cut…but it didn’t come. It seemed he was content with a casual blow this time. He had backed her into the courtyard by this point, slowly but surely he was forcing her into a corner. She knew once that happened it was over. The only reason she had lasted so long was the game he was making of this, and if she couldn’t maneuver he’d grow bored quickly. He pulled back…she knew the lunge was coming and moved her shield to intercept. This time when it connected, she pushed back with all her might. Her heart soared as this seemed to take the chaos god turned human by surprise and he stumbled back. With a growl she lunged forward with her sword…only to be met with air. He had smoothly turned to avoid her thrust…carrying her helplessly by him. She wasn’t even too surprised when she felt an explosion of pain at the base of her skull. Discord chuckled to himself and wiped the now bloody pommel of his sword on the back of the prone girls’ tattered shirt. “Well that wasn’t too graceful was it? You can have all the magical artifacts in the world but they don’t do you much good if you don’t know how to use them hm?” She could only dimly hear what he was saying. His words sounded far away and…oh…what pretty little dancing spots floating before her eyes. Jen didn’t realize how tired she was until she was lying face down in the snow of the courtyard. Sure it was chilly, but she liked it cold when she slept. Made snuggling under the blankets nicer. “Hm.” Her foe casually squatted down before her face, regarding her with a slightly disinterested expression. “Well this has certainly lost its fun. Looks like you’re done m’dear. I’ll see you once I have the book.” Woozily, Jennifer watched the funny man stroll across the courtyard toward the tower doors. Book. Why did that sound so important? Book? She wasn’t in the mood to read. Now a nap sounded good. Her eyes were drooping closed slowly. Too bad Pinkie wasn’t here…she’s such a comfy pillow. Wait. Pinkie? And…a book. THE book. Clover the Clever’s book…man Twilight was so geeked to hear that’s whose spellbook they were searching for. Jennifer needed that book…to…to do something! It certainly was hard to collect her thoughts, bleeding profusely from all her minor cuts and now probably nursing a small concussion. She had to stand up. Come on legs…let’s go. We have a book to find. Hm…legs are being uncooperative. Alright arms, let’s show em how it’s done! Slowly…agonizingly so she got her hands under herself and pushed up with a little yowl of pain. She almost allowed herself to flop back down but…Pinkie was counting on her. And Rainbow Dash. And Twilight who was still fighting…and the others back in Canterlot. And the whole damn kingdom! (normally she wasn’t one to swear, being punished heavily for doing so but the situation felt appropriate!) Discord paused as he heard her stirring behind him. He turned with a smirk regarding the bleeding, wobbly mess slowly pushing herself to her knees. Getting one foot…then the other under her. “You must be a glutton for punishment hmm?” Swaying drunkenly on her feet Jen focused on her opponent. “You…suck.” Yeah! That showed him! Let me help. Eyebrows raised she whipped her head from side to side…almost sending herself sprawling back into the snow. That didn’t sound like the other voice in her head…the other one had sounded like herself only…mean. This one was definitely female…but it sounded calmer, collected. “Uh…kay?” Was her eloquent response. The other human in the courtyard tilted his head regarding her with a raised brow. “Are you asking if I agree that I suck? I emphatically do not if so. Further…” He trailed off as one of the runes on her sword began to glow brightly. Pinks wisps of light swirled from the blade faster and faster…coalescing into the form of a unicorn mare. Wearing finely crafted barding and bearing the shield Jennifer had strapped to one arm, the sword floating next to her head held in a pale gold telekinetic aura. “Hey now that’s cheating!” The flustered Discord glared scathingly at the ethereal pony…who seemed more solid by the moment. Jen just blinked down at the ghostly pony before her. “Uh…sorry I took yer stuff?” -Twilight Sparkle- The sound of steel on steel ringing from the courtyard outside was only increasing Twilight’s already considerable stress levels. She had expected to drop Trixie with one or two well casted spells, then rush out to double team Discord and find the book. Instead she was confronted not with the braggy showmare from before, but a competent sorceress in her own right. Mirror images of her foe had her surrounded…the illusion so well formed Twilight found it impossible to tell one from the other. She had already blasted a number of them…but each time she struck they all retaliated. She couldn’t tell which was the real Trixie…but each retaliation from the small army of them brought with it the sting of a real spell striking home. Obviously the concentration she needed to maintain the imaging spell was impeding her from casting anything stronger than an eldritch lance, but enough of those would take a toll. Frantically Twilight ran through every combat spell she’d learned…which to her chagrin was few. Which seemed odd when she thought about it, it’s not like she and her friends didn’t get into dangerous situation with alarming frequency…often against foes that far eclipsed their skills. When all this is over she really needed to ask Princess Celestia for a few combat oriented spell books and… TZAT! Another eldtrich lance burned into Twilight’s flank. Trixie seemed to notice Twilight losing focus…a sign the other unicorn was tiring. She herself was growing weary, the imaging spell wasn’t simple…and maintaining it for any length of time was causing a strain. How could Twilight Sparkle still be standing? She’d taken at least six lances by now…any normal pony would have succumbed already. “Surrender Twilight Sparkle. You clearly can’t win, and I don’t enjoy hurting you.” Which was a little bit of a lie…while she didn’t harbor the same animosity for Twilight she once had…and knew her current situation was one entirely of her own making she couldn’t help but feel a bit of anger toward the other unicorn. How different would her life have been if she could have afforded the entrance fee to a Canterlot school of magic? Would it have been her chosen by Celestia as her personal protégé? It wasn’t everyday a unicorn whose special talent was magic itself came along. To her chagrin Twilight didn’t seem in a surrendering mood. A magenta aura flared from her horn sending a veritable shockwave rushing out in all directions. Trixie braced herself but the sheer force of it was enough to lift her…and all her duplicates from the floor and hurtle them through the air. Many of them vanished as the impact jarred her concentration…but more than a few survived. The attacked seemed to drain Twilight who was now teetering dangerously closed to unconsciousness. Twilight barely managed to evade the next round of lances. She had removed enough of the images she could scramble away from the remainder…but her shockwave had almost drained her reserves. She was REALLING hoping that would’ve knocked the fight out of Trixie, it was her big trump card. By now she’d run through every spell she could think of that would be a help. Each spell she had painstakingly researched with the help of the Princess…and now she was out of them. She had enough magic left for one more…one lance maybe. But she’d have to hit the right one…and she had no idea which was which. If only she had a way to find which one! Find It! Her horn flared to life again…and Trixie gave a strangled little erk as Twilight unerringly whirled to face her directly. Not an image…but the REAL her. Hastily collecting her thoughts for another lance of magic…they were interrupted as a powerful blast of brightly glowing purple ripped through the air and collided with the side of her face. Her vision swam…this was impossible! Twilight was teetering on the edge of magic depletion…the silly mare could barely keep on her hooves…and this was the FIRST spell she had connected with firmly. Trixie felt the ground rushing up to meet her as she collapsed on her side. Was there really such a huge difference between the two of them? Twilight let out a relieved sigh as she watched Trixie fall. It didn’t bring her any joy to do that…but she did what she had to. Now to help Jennifer! Hm…no kneeling down wasn’t going to help her. And lying on her side CERTAINLY wasn’t going to assist Jennifer in any capacity. So why was she doing it? -Rainbow Dash- Rainbow trotted triumphantly from Commander Hurricane’s quarters, a slightly rusted…but still pretty cool helmet resting on her head. Her heart fluttered a moment as she looked to see where Lightning Dust lay. The howling on the wind had intensified greatly since she’d entered the building…but she was still surprised at what she saw. Where the unconscious pegasus had crashed, was a perfectly crafted ice sculpture of the hateful mare. A frown tugged at Dash’s muzzle as she slowly trotted to regard her. She didn’t LIKE Lightning Dust…not after the Wonderbolts Academy incidents and CERTAINLY not after the train incident. But this…nopony deserved this. With a sad shake of her head at the futility of it all she turned and bounded for the edge of the city…cleaning taking off. This turned out to be something of a mistake. With the first flap of her wings her vision swam and she almost swooned in midair. It took all her focus to not succumb to the blackness. Her impromptu race around the block really took it out of her and it was all she could do to spread her wings wide and go into a smooth glide. Just barely from the corner of her eye she spotted a flash of pink bounding through the snow…a splotch of brown following it at a more subdued pace. She angled her slow fall toward what she prayed was Pinkie Pie (I mean what else COULD the bouncing pink speck be), and began her descent. -Pinkie Pie- Bouncing through the snow toward the castle, Cranky in tow Pinkie was feelin pretty good! She had the glasses perched on her muzzle (a new accessory she felt made her look not only smarter but more mature to boot), and no doubt her friends had already completed their tasks and were probly waiting for her! She felt a little niggle of worry edging at the back of her head. That nasty Lightning Dust was dangerous and poor Dashie wasn’t up to her usual awesome self. Not to mention Twilight had to deal with Trixie again…and Discord was no doubt up there somewhere. But she knew they’d pull through just like always. She screeched to a halt and let out a little screech of fright as a streak of rainbow crashed into the snow before her. Rushing to the Rainbow Dashed shaped impact in the snow Pinkie dipped her head in, dragging her friend out by the tail. A very weary looking Rainbow Dash looked out at Pinkie from beneath a helmet the earth pony felt suited her pretty well. “Hey Pinkie…I won!” Then she was promptly snoring. With a long suffering sigh Pinkie just shook her head and worked Rainbow onto her back. “Honestly the trouble these ponies get into when I’m not around.” Voicing this aloud Pinkie realized…there were two very important ponies to her up in the castle…likely in the middle of troubles of their own. This thought spurred her to move a little faster for the castle. -Jennifer- Jennifer watched a touch enviously as the semi-transparent pony her sword seemed to have spawned wielded the ethereal copy of her sword with easy. It was almost a dance the way unicorn and sword moved. Controlling it with her magic, the ghostly knight operated independently of the blade. So when Discord would block or parry the oncoming sword, he’d received a viscous buck or slam from the wielder. If he tried to stop the incoming hooves, the sword scored a slash somewhere about his person. Discord wasn’t entirely helpless during all this. He was still a find swordsman even if he was at a severe disadvantage. A few cuts marked the knight here and there oozing ephemeral black smoke. But he was facing an opponent well-armed and armored, who was in full possession of her own magic as well. Another wave of dizziness threatened to topple Jen into the snow again. She was bleeding a lot from the cuts Discord opened about her. She had to use her sword to steady herself, planting the end in the snow and leaning heavily upon it. Letting her gaze shift from the battle to her impromptu cane she noted one of the runes was blazing with (light red!), magical fire. The third one from the hilt. There were seven runes along the blade, starting from the hilt and working their way up…it looked like there was room for more as well. With a grimace she shifted her weight off her sword and settled back onto her feet. She couldn’t help but wince as Discord took a sudden buck to the knee from the armored pony, and he tumbled to the ground with a yelp. Wasting no time in capitalizing on her fallen foes stumble, the knight was on him in a flash. A stomp to his sword snapped the blade off at the hilt, as she reared on her hide legs, sword arcing to deliver the final blow. “Stop!” Jen was surprised to find that SHE was the one who shouted stop…and even more surprised when the knight obeyed. Slowly the summoned pony lowered her blade and stepped back from Discord, turning to regard Jennifer with pale violet eyes. She dipped in a bow, and was soon gone. Fading to wisps and returning to the sword. With a groan Discord was pulling himself to a sitting position, turning to the approaching Jennifer. “Well I suppose you’re expecting a thank you? If so you’ll be waiting a long time young la-“ He was cut off by a gleaming buckler attached to a skinny girl’s arm colliding solidly with his face. It would have been funny if it hadn’t hurt so much. “Touche.” Was all he got out, before his eyes rolled back and he flopped back into the snow. With a little huff Jen turned and resumed limping into the tower…leaving a trail of blood in the snow behind her. -Pinkie Pie- With Cranky’s assistance Pinkie got the castle doors open, trotting inside and giving a shiver. “Brrrrr! It’s nice to get inside…even if it’s not A LOT warmer in here…” The doors boomed shut behind the pair cutting of the biting wind. Glancing to her side she saw Trixie laying near the door, unconscious but breathing. Across the hall was Twilight’s prone form. Hurrying to her fallen friends side Pinkie knelt down, eyeing her critically. Twilight was breathing. Faint rapid breaths, but still breaths. She didn’t seem to be badly hurt so she just assumed she overdid it with the magic and was out like a light, which was a welcome relief to the worried earth pony. A quick glance in the direction Twilight had been heading stole that relief. She could see a snowy courtyard through the passage way, but the snow was dark red with blood. Gently Pinkie rolled Rainbow Dash off her back to lie next to Twilight. “Can you look after them for me Cranky? I need to get to Jenny.” At a nod from the donkey Pinkie was off like a rocket. She spared the still unconscious Discord a glance as she followed the bloody trail, allowing a proud little smile to find her face. ‘Way to go Jenny-bean.’ Her smile was short lived as she realized it was A LOT of blood she was following. While she wasn’t exactly a doctor everypony knew if you lost too much blood well…nothing good could come of that. Bursting through the still open tower doors Pinkie whipped her head from side to side frantically. There it was! The trail lead up the stairs. Silly girl shouldn’t be walking around so much if she’s so hurt…but it can’t be helped. Some people were just stubborn. Bounding up the stairs two at a time the pink mare frowned. Jenny’s sword was lying on the floor at the top of the stairs. Still no sign of Jenny. The little pony moved as fast as her legs would carry her, down the hall…up MORE stairs. Jeez how big WAS this tower? She was dimly aware of the tears forming in her eyes as she ran. She was feeling that bad feeling again…the feeling she felt when she thought she’d lost Jen and Rainbow Dash in the caves. Her forehoof slipped in a particularly large puddle of blood, almost forcing her to trip. She regained her balance soon enough though casting it a worried glance. The trail finally lead into an opened door on the side. Nudging it open Pinkie found who she sought. Jen was moving slowly through a large library, one arm hanging limply at her side while the other was holding a nasty cut at her stomach. She looked like she was covered in cuts from head to toe; the sight was almost too much for the already worried pony. “Jenny! Jenny you have to stop moving around! You’re making it worse!” Pinkie dashed to her injured friends’ side. With a stubborn shake of her head Jen kept limping on. “It’s close Pinkie…can’t find the book…they’re ALL her books y’see?” She gestured weakly with her good arm…allowing the unstaunched blood flow from her stomach wound to go unchecked for a quick moment…before the arm was back covering it again. The sight of the garish wound almost threw Pinkie Pie into hysterics but she pushed those feelings down. Panicking wasn’t going to help anypony. Forcing a smile and a nod Pinkie pushed herself against Jen’s side stabilizing her. “I know Jenny-bean. We’ll find it. You just sit down and get some rest okay?” Blinking slowly the girl looked down at Pinkie, as if just now realizing she was in fact there. She gave a weary smile and a nod. “Oh…good idea. I’ll sit…an you’ll find it?” At a nod from her friend, Jen slowly eased into a sitting position, resting her back against a large book shelf. “Pinkie promise?” With a little laugh Pinkie nodded. “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” This brought a little chuckle from Jen. “Good…find the book Pinkie. Before Discord wakes up.” Loathe to leave her dear friend’s side…but having made a Pinkie promise she nodded. It might conflict slightly with the earlier promise to look after her, but she was only gonna be gone for a minute. If Clover the Clever was anything like Twilight (and from the Hearth’s Warming pageant she most certainly WAS), she’d keep all her good books on a private shelf. With quick steps Pinkie galloped from Jen’s side, ignoring the regular book shelves on either side of her as she ran through the library. Aha! There it was. A large book cast standing off by itself behind a big writing desk. Glass doors enclosed it, with a little lock on said doors. Giving an impatient snort Pinkie simply gave the glass a quick buck, shattering it. Almost as if it was begging to be picked up…there sat the unassuming midnight blue tome. Gingerly she took it in her mouth and began the trot back to Jen’s side. “Fnd it!” Pinkie chirped around a mouthful of book. She dropped it next to Jennifer, but frowned as it gave a splashing sound. Looking down Pinkie saw a slowly spreading pool of red going outward from the girl. The panic was welling in her throat again. She looked so pale…and like she was sleeping. Before Pinkie could let out a wail of despair, Jen cracked an eye open. “Good…now can you get my back pack? My first aid kit’s in there…and I think I could use it.” Eyes full of unshed tears Pinkie gave a quick laugh and nod. “Sure thing Jenny-bean. We’ll have you fixed up in no time!” Turning she dashed from the room back to the courtyard. -Jennifer- Once she was sure Pinkie was gone and on her way, she stopped trying to hide the grimace of pain that oh so needed to get out. With a groan she shifted her weight to better look at the book beside her. It was pretty boring looking really. She had expected the book of some awesome wizard to look…fancier. She allowed a frown as she saw the book being ruined by the blood…HER blood she thought. “Gross. I’m sitting in blood…this sucks.” It was getting harder and harder to focus. Really all she wanted to do right now…was take a long nap.