Chapter 5
Twilight could hear that they had arrived before she saw Ira's shop. The sound of metal being slammed against an anvil rang through the air as they rounded the corner and the storefront came into view. Twilight noticed that they seemed to be alone in this section of town as the sound of grinding replaced the hitting sound of earlier. Twilight was astonished at the amount of sparks flying out of the storefront as she approached, expecting to see a pony fully suited up in protective clothing. She was further shocked to see a small, fit, earth pony standing there sharpening a sword. No clothing covered her body at all, Twilight immediately thought this pony to be insane. Those sparks could singe a pony's hair off and burn through her coat in seconds! The pony grinned widely as she stepped back and admired her handiwork. The pony in front of her was light tan in color with a reddish-brown mane. Her body was covered in tiny scars, most likely burn marks, Twilight thought. She immediately came to the conclusion that this mare was fearless. Her eyes were a bright red. They reminded Twilight of Lux's eyes, but they were different. Where Lux's eyes were inviting, Ira's eyes seared into the mind, glowing the same red as her furnaces. Just looking into her eyes made Twilight feel more brave, more strong, but at the same time a sense of aggression grew within her. She broke her stare and looked at her cutie mark, a large flame sat on her flank. I guess that's atleast more fitting than Ace's, Twilight thought.
Ira stared at Twilight, then turned her head to Avery, "Avery! Just the pony I wanted to see!" Her voice was rough, just like the grin that decorated her face.
Avery leaned towards Twilight, "That can't be good."
Ira must have heard this as she burst into a quick laugh, "So, what brings you here?"
"Well my friend Twilight here messed her leg up real bad. Lux's crutch isn't gonna cut it for much longer. I figured you might be able to give us a hand."
Ira rubbed her hoof on her chin, "Hmmm, I'm guessing your friend here doesn't have any money?" Avery answered with a nod, "and you of course, don't have any money either right?"
Avery sighed, "Correct."
"So, let's scratch each others backs," she looked at her hooves, "well, figuratively anyway. You get my point, you do one tiny favor for me, and I'll get that thing twenty years ahead of it's time for free."
Twilight interjected, "That would be great!"
Avery turned once again to Twilight, "Settle down Twilight, no favor for Ira is that easy. So Ira, what mountain do I have to scale, what great monster do I have to face this time?"
"No, no, nothing too ridiculous. I just need a partner to spar with real quick to test the hardness and edges on my new sword model I've been working on," she said wearing a grin as she pointed back to her store window . The swords didn't look any different than regular ones to Twilight, but she assumed that it must be something with the metal working that was different.
"Uh-oh, I don't know if that's a good idea Ira. You do remember what happened last time we sparred right?"
"It was just ONE measly building. It was coming down anyway! Don't wuss out on me, you're the best sparring partner I can find in this town." Apparently she wasn't waiting for an answer and immediately hurried back to the shop.
"Ugh," Avery groaned.
"Please Avery!" Twilight begged, "I want to see her technical prowess! And I'd really like to not have to rely on you to get me around everywhere too, of course."
"Right, of course," Avery said, "Don't let her get into your head Twilight. She has hooves that shed innocent blood. Just stand wayyyy back, trust me."
Twilight stepped about 20 paces backwards, safe enough, she hoped.
The shop door flew open and a glint of metal came soaring out from the shop. Twilight could barely see it before Avery caught the sword in his mouth. Twilight fell back to her flank in shock. Maybe this isn't far back enough...
Ira came out with her sword on her back. She was walking towards Avery when she shouted out, "It's over when the opponent surrenders! And not before then!" She then bucked forward and caught the sword in her mouth on its journey to the ground.
Twilight's eye was drawn to Ira, as the flame on her flank started to shimmer with intensity.
"Uh-oh," Avery muttered out.
Ira leapt forward at incredible speeds, bringing her sword down in a vertical arc. She covered the distance between herself and Avery so fast that Twilight had a hard time believing she wasn't dreaming. Twilight was about to let out a shout of fright when a loud clang filled the air. Avery parried Ira's swing and used her momentum to drive her sword towards the ground. Avery turned his neck and swung in a horizontal arc. Twilight noticed the force with which he swung, This is not a normal spar! These are not normal ponies! They are actually trying to kill each other! Ira followed through on her downward momentum and planted her sword in the ground. Avery's sword met hers in its horizontal swing and a quick burst of sparks filled the air.
Twilight had thought up until that moment that she was the lone observer to this barbaric match when another movement caught her eye. In between two of the buildings, watching the match from about fifty paces away, was a young filly. The filly had a grey body, vibrant green hair, but no cutie mark. Twilight then noticed the filly's eyes. They were an incredible shade of green, but that wasn't what surprised Twilight. Her eyes stared upon the match, not with a look of fear, but a distinct look of loathing.
Her focus on the filly was broken by a scream she noted as Ira's. Her eyes immediately darted back to the battle at hand. Ira was now charging towards Avery again, letting loose a flurry of strikes. She watched Ira swing her sword back and forth with incredible strength and speed. At first what seemed to be random, but Twilight was noticing the slight changes Ira was making to each swing, trying to make every individual swing harder to parry and leading Avery to defend against the next one. Avery blocked them all with great haste though, allowing a sigh of relief to escape Twilight's mouth.
Ira noticed that her speed was not going to best Avery, she went for power. She reared her neck back after an impressive flurry of strikes and swung her sword horizontally with titanic strength. Twilight instinctively closed her eyes, fearing the sight of Avery being cleaved in two, but another clang filled the air. She darted her eyes open to see Avery spun around from the force of Ira's last swing. Ira noticed her opened and thrusted forward to Avery's exposed flank. Avery spun the sword in his mouth and somehow managed to parry her thrust upward, dragging her head towards the sky with her sword. Avery saw this opening and bucked his hind legs backwards with all his strength. He landed a bone-crunching hit onto Ira's jaw, sending her reeling backwards. Twilight noticed that not a single grunt or scream left Ira's mouth.
Avery removed the sword from his mouth, "Good match Ira, that was intense," he said while wiping sweat away from his forehead.
Ira got up and slammed the ground in rage. She reared her head back and spit out a few teeth and some blood onto the ground next to her. "I'm not done with you yet!" She rushed over to her shop window and with one quick jab from her hoof, she shattered the front window and grabbed another sword. What's a new sword going to do? Twilight wondered. As Ira prepared to go again, it was made clear. She put one sword in her mouth, grabbed the other one with both of her hooves, and put that one in her mouth as well. Twilight could only gasp as she watched Ira's mouth clutch down on them with enough strength to snap bones.
"Oh horseapples," was all Avery had time to say before he put his sword back in his mouth and prepared for the next barrage.
Two swords?! How is she going to still use them skillfully?!
Twilight soon got her answer. Ira charged forward, cocking her head backwards. When she was halfway towards Avery, she shot her neck forward and launched one of the swords towards Avery. The sword was right on target, and moving so fast Twilight could only barely catch a glimpse of it before Avery brought his head upwards at just the right moment, launching the sword high into the air. By the time he finished that action, Ira was right in front of him swinging her sword across, directly at Avery's chest. Avery cocked his head and drove his sword into the ground, stopping her swing with a loud clang as sparks shot out in multiple directions. Avery and Ira stared into each others eyes for just a brief moment before a large grin grew on Ira's face. It took Avery only half a second longer to realize what was happening, but by then it was too late. Ira dropped the sword she held in her mouth and leaped into the air, grabbing the falling sword that Avery had parried earlier with her forelegs. Avery had no time to back up far enough to get out of her reach and his sword was still firmly in the ground. Twilight tried to keep her eyes open, but couldn't bare the sight of her friend being killed. She expected to hear the sound of flesh being parted, but was instead met with a stiff, blunt sound. Twilight opened her eyes, prepared for the worst, but was instead greeted with something even more surprising.
Avery had brought his wings up to block the blade in mid air. Ira's hind legs where now on the ground as her forelegs still supported the sword that had been stopped. Twilight stared on in awe as blood started to run down Avery's wings and onto the ground. She surely thought that the blow would have broken his wings, but other than a cut, he seemed to be okay.
She looked towards Ira's face and found she wasn't the only one wearing a surprised expression. Ira seemed genuinely shocked as well. "Well Avery, I didn't see that coming."
A slight grin appeared on Avery's face before Ira continued.
"Too bad it's put you out of position!"
It all happened so fast.
In one swift motion, Ira dropped the sword that was held by her forelegs. Riding the momentum downwards, she slammed the ground with her falling forelegs. This action did two things. Firstly, It threw Avery off his firm footing. Secondly, it sent the sword she dropped earlier jetting upwards. She caught the sword in her mouth and swung. Avery did his best to jet himself backwards to dodge, but only partially succeeded. Her slash found its target, slicing through Avery's left foreleg, removing it in one clean slash.
Twilight's eyes jerked open as she stood there in disbelief. She tried to scream, but her body wasn't responding. All she could do is stare as Avery fell backwards, leaving his dismembered leg on the ground. She looked towards Ira's face, expecting to see remorse, but only saw a victorious grin that send shivers down her spine.
Then her eyes turned towards her friend, he immediately started to get back up on three legs. He looked down at his former leg. Twilight expected to see a face of horror or shock, but instead, he looked nervous. What's with these ponies?! Do they have any idea what has happened?!
Avery turned to face Ira, "Ira you've gone too far! Look what you've done to me! You've permanently crippled me!"
Ira's grin grew on her face, "We both know that's not true Avery."
What does she mean by that! Of course he's crippled! He's just lost a leg for Celestia's sake! He's going to be suffering from major blood los-
That's when Twilight looked below where Avery's leg once was. No blood. That isn't possible! He should be bleeding profusely right now! She glanced upwards at his face once more, now he looked of shock.
"How...did you know?" He muttered.
Twilight's eyes were brought to the dismembered leg, she saw it gradually disappearing on the ground right in front of her eyes. She turned back to Avery to see the stump where his leg formally was, to start growing downwards. Twilight couldn't believe her eyes as, before long, Avery's leg had completely regenerated. There was her friend, standing on four legs again, where just a mere minute ago he had been standing with three.
Avery turned to Twilight, about to open his mouth, but Twilight was quicker.
"What are you?"
"I'm...complicated."