//------------------------------// // 5. Confrontation // Story: Dysphoria, Arc 3: Canterlot // by thedarkprep //------------------------------// 5. Confrontation The sun was past the horizon now, darkness enveloping the night as the moon began its slow ascent. Luna stood at the balcony of the Royal Castle, controlling the stars and nebulas into the stoic work of art that nightly illuminated the sky. Below her, her subjects continued about their business, dining at restaurants and visiting clubs and other night hot spots. The city itself seemed alive, full of noise and vigor as the activity of those present carried through the night. And yet, amongst the many inhabitants under Luna’s watchful eyes, two ponies stood both mute and unwatched. Rose stared at Slant with surprise and bitterness. She had planned for a perfect ambush only to be led into a trap. “I was careless,” she thought, “I assumed that he was lost and aimless, but he knew exactly what he was doing.” Rose quickly turned to examine her surroundings. The alleyway was dark. The tall buildings on either side of the small space in which the two ponies stood were of such stature that the moon would be blocked completely unless it was placed directly overhead, which it was not. As such, the only illumination came from the stray stars and the small amounts of light reflected on the side of the buildings. Looking overhead, Rose paid attention to the dead end and instinctively looked for the castle, which was also covered by the buildings on each side. “He led me here on purpose; he wants to fight and he does not want an audience.” Rose strained her ear to pick up on the noise of the various social events happening throughout the city, but the sounds were faint at best, non-existent at worst. She tried to remember the route the two had taken to get here from the northern section, realizing that they were in the business sector, which would remain uninhabited until the morning. “No audience and no witnesses,” thought Rose. She finally turned to look at the pony before her again. Slant Rhyme still had that menacing look in his eyes. His wings were flared in an aggressive stance, ready to use them to propel himself forward or overhead in the event of a rush. Rose addressed him. “Who are you?” Slant looked taken aback for a second. “You don’t know? What’s the point of stalking and ambushing a specific pony if you do not know their name?” he asked, “No matter. I am Slant Rhyme, son of Rich Rhyme and Ilene Rhyme of the prestigious and noble Rhyme Family.” “Now, we both know that’s not true,” said Rose, removing her hood. “So why don’t we try again?” Confusion overtook Slant’s features as he tried to piece together the information his eyes were telling him. He analyzed the face before him, looking for an explanation that made sense. Suddenly his expression softened as he was flooded with understanding. “Well now, isn’t this interesting?” Slant said, while allowing himself a small laugh. “So not only are you not dead, but you’re the one that’s been following me, right in front of the nobility no less.” Rose did not enjoy having to repeat herself. “I asked for your name,” Rose said. “So answer.” Slant looked at her with a dark smirk on his face. “I’m Slant Rhyme my dear, and I’m a far better Slant Rhyme than you ever were.” “Don’t play games with me!” Rose yelled. “Who are you?!” Slant rolled his eyes and yawned before staring at her. “I’m you, a better you. A better Slant Rhyme than you could ever hope to be. I’m a son who isn’t a disappointment to his family and who isn’t an affront to nature itself. So I’m you, minus the being a freak part. If you don’t believe me, we can even go ask your daddy!” Slant exclaimed. Rose tried to remain stoic and aggressive, showing no sign of Slant’s insults connecting. However, something must have shown. “Oh, it does seem I hit a nerve.” He had. Rose was reeling on the inside with pain, shame, and bitterness. However, this was neither the time nor place to dwell on such feelings. Realizing that she was wasting her time, she changed the question. “How did you know I was following you?” she asked. Slant laughed. “You’re afraid,” he said, again refusing to answer her question. “It’s ok, pony, you have nothing to be afraid of,” he chuckled. “I mean, yeah, I have to kill you to ensure I’m not found out, but after that I’ll be the perfect son you never could be and the perfect brother you refused to be.” Rose stood there, trying her hardest to keep still and to keep her features fixed in an emotionless scowl, and yet Slant could see right through her façade. “Oh, don’t like talking about your brother, do you?” Slant goaded. “He still doesn’t understand why you deserted him. What should I tell him? That he just wasn’t important enough for me to stick around? I’ll be glad to pass along the message since, no matter how this turns out, I’m sure you realize you won’t ever see him again.” Rose could only stare as her façade shattered. Tears of sadness welled up in her eyes as the words Slant had spoken sank in. They were after all, true. She stared at him as tears of pain turned into tears of anger. The time for speaking was over. With a powerful flap of her wings, Rose propelled forward in a charge. Slant was unprepared for the attack and Rose was closing the distance too quickly to defend or counter. Instinct took over, forcing him to jump forward and take flight, having failed to notice the arc of Rose’s attack. Instead of landing or attacking where Slant would have been, Rose landed two steps in front, using her momentum to power a short jump. Rose grabbed Slant’s tail in midair, dragging him backwards with her accumulated momentum and slamming him against the wall behind where he had stood. The impact was hard, knocking the wind out of Slant and rendering him immobile. Rose took advantage of the opportunity to land a few hits on his face and stomach before grabbing him by his leg and throwing him onto the floor. Slant regained mobility about halfway through his descent, using his wings to turn in mid air and to slow his fall, allowing him to land on all fours. He did not have much time to recover, with Rose having already launched herself at him again for her next attack. Slant dropped to the floor and turned onto his back, allowing for Rose to fly slightly over him and kicking her in the chest when she was directly overhead. Rose was thrown off balance by the kick, which sent her crashing to the ground. She fought back tears of pain as she placed a hoof over the spot where her rib fracture had occurred. The same spot that Slant had just kicked. She looked up just in time to see Slant flying at her with his front hoof outstretched, aiming for her head. Rose stood her ground, dodging the hit, grabbing his front leg, and using it to launch Slant onto a wall to the side. Slant had been expecting this, maneuvering in the air to land on his back hooves and using his legs and wings to launch himself at the pony. He moved too fast for Rose to evade, tackling her against the opposite wall. Slant got off Rose as she let out a yelp of pain, aligning to attack again. However, as he launched, Rose rolled on the ground, passing under Slant’s hoof and positioning herself to kick him the face in the process. She did not miss her mark. Slant toppled to the floor and immediately scrambled to get up, but not before Rose landed as heavily as she could on Slant’s right wing. The wing felt odd underneath Rose’s hooves, but she was sure that Slant would not take to the skies again. Slant pushed her off and continued his attack, but it was to no avail. With her wings Rose outmaneuvered her counterpart with ease, using sudden bursts of speed or her ability to jump over Slant in order to avoid, counter, and land hits. Slant charged at her one more time. Rose saw the attack and charged as well, however, at the last second she jumped over the pony, turned around in mid air, and used her wings to propel her at her target. Slant did not have the opportunity to turn it around. In one fluid motion Rose pinned Slant, withdrawing Octavia’s blade from her saddlebag and pressing it against Slant’s neck. The battle was over. Rose allowed herself a moment to compose herself before interrogating Slant. However, he was the one to speak first. “You know, I assumed you wouldn’t be as willing to attack and destroy this body as thoroughly as you have. Most ponies wouldn’t hurt themselves this badly,” said Slant in between pained breaths. “You assume too much,” Rose responded. She didn’t like his tone. Despite the fight that they had just had, and the fact that he lost, his tone was too conversational. “Now you’re going to answer my questions,” Rose said, after which Slant shook his head. Rose pressed the blade harder against his neck. “You lost. You are at my mercy and you are alone.” Slant began laughing as five other ponies came out of the shadows, tackling Rose and pinning her onto the ground. The six ponies surrounded her, getting ready to strike with Slant leading the group. The group attacked and bound her, covering her with a tapestry before placing her in a closed cart that had appeared with the five new ponies. However, before she heard the door of the compartment close, she heard Slant’s voice. “You assume too much.”