“There you are, Tavi!”
The classy mare turned to the voice, seeing her best friend approaching with a green unicorn behind her. She smiled, waving calmly to them. “Glad you two could make it. I was worried that Rhino had left for his own dimension by now.”
The stallion in question smiled at her, “Well, I thought about it and figured there’s no real rush. It’s been like a... familiar vacation while I’ve been here, so I might as well enjoy it.”
“That’s the spirit, dude!” Vinyl patted his back heartily, grinning brightly. She moved away to get a harness for him.
While the white mare was away, Octavia turned to the stallion, nodding genially. “I’m glad to hear you’re trying to enjoy this situation, Rhino.” She idly twirled one of her cello bows, making sure she knew the heft of it.
He eyed her weapons curiously, “So what is this all about then? Vi was being vague when I pressed her for details.”
“She would do that.” Octavia sighed, motioning to her own gear - a mythril-weave body armor. “She made these for a game she came up with. At first, I was skeptical, but I have to admit, it is somewhat entertaining.”
“Just somewhat, Tavi?” Vinyl reappeared, holding up another torso-length harness in her magic. “If I remember, you had asked if we could play again almost immediately after the first time.” She levitated the clothes over to the other unicorn. “Anyways, this is going to be a sparring match of sorts, if I’m not mistaken. Any questions before we begin?”
“Quite a lot actually,” he said as he geared up in the harness, “but I suppose the important ones would be: ‘why?’ and ‘what are the rules?’”
“The rules are simple.” Vinyl’s horn lit up, a virtual one showing up in the air next to her. “One, you are not allowed to aim for the head with any deadly attacks. It’s not as protected as your chest area.” The number morphed into another. “Two, your goal is to bring the other pony’s ‘lives’ down to zero. You can do this by either landing a blow on their torso or by physically forcing their inertia to change. Three, stay within the designated fight area. If you leave, you will lose a life off your score and be teleported back to the center of the area.” She holds a pair of shades up for him, grinning widely. “These will allow you to keep track of the current score.”
“And I can answer that first one.” The classy mare slipped on a pair of goggles, smiling softly. “I suppose you can say I’m curious about your skills in fighting. From what I hear, you’re rather talented.”
“When pushed I suppose I could be considered that.” He grimaced, “Though I admit, I am still a bit hesitant to try to hurt you.”
“I’m more durable than you give me credit for.” She walked a distance away to a large boulder. She kicks it and steps back, watching it shatter into a number of pebbles.
One of the pebbles rolled up to Rhino’s hooves. “So it seems.” He looked back at his apparently inevitable opponent. “Alright, if this is what you want. At least there’s nothing to make me lose control here.”
“Yep.” The smaller unicorn playfully (if awkwardly, due to the height difference) punched his shoulder. “And don’t worry about getting hurt too badly. The harnesses absorb most of the blows, and if your lives go down to zero, it will rapidly begin to heal you...after paralyzing your limbs to keep you from agitating your injuries.” She waves the shades at him, waiting for him take them.
He looked over the shades before levitating them on. “Once again, you and your inventions intrigue me, Vi.”
“I try.~” She watched as her best friend walks back up to them. “Okay, now that everything’s set, we can get on with the game!” Vinyl tapped both of their backs, causing displays to light up in their shades.
Octavia: 6
Rhino: 6
“Seems like a reasonable amount.” Octavia turned to the stallion, smiling slyly. “What do you think?”
He shrugged, “I have no idea, you’re the expert.”
“It’s good enough, then!” The disk jockey kicked a sphere on the ground, activating it. It floated up into the air, emitting a white light that scanned over the field, generating a grid over the ground.
“Parameters set. Size of area, nine square miles. Uploading simulation number zero-one-one from the memory of player two.”
Concrete sprung up around all of them, bits of machinery attached to large turbines hum in the background. Waterfalls can be seen along one long wall from any of the multi-level walkways across the area. Below, water rushed through and out holes opposite the falls creating a veil of mist in some parts of the facility as well as making the very bottom of the facility unseeable beneath the water. Corridors marked the ends of the structure, colored lights above them.
“...interesting choice of venue.” The classy mare turned to her sparring partner, a small smirk on her lips. “I never would’ve pegged you for an engineer. Especially since you mentioned being a medic the other day.”
“Oh this isn’t my turf, this is where my roommate works, he’s the engineer.” He smiled, “I suppose I have slight home-field advantage then.”
“Maybe. Good thing I’m adaptable.” She leaped into the air, creating some distance between them so she could plan properly.
On the outskirts of the field, a fuchsia filly stepped forward, running a hoof over the newly made concrete surface. “...this won’t do...how am I supposed to see the fight?”
She thought for a moment, looking up and seeing a door high in the wall. “...that’s convenient. And a good test, too.” She concentrated, focusing on the bottoms of her hooves. “Here I go.”
She placed a hoof on the wall, followed by another. Taking a breath to stoke her courage, she finally put her last two hooves on the wall. Peeking open an eye, she saw that her vision was now at a ninety-degree angle from normal. “...still a bit disorienting, but it's working, at least.” She walked her way up to the door, excited to see the fight between her mentor and her idol.
Octavia hid behind one of the turbines, silently thinking to herself. So this pony probably won’t be that much of a challenge if he’s not worked up. I’ll just use my normal techniques on him, possibly toss a couple taunts in there, and work from there. She peeked around the machine, searching for any sign of her opponent. Where did he go?
She looked up, just in case he was on the ceiling. Nope. She turned around, slightly disappointed. Maybe he doesn’t want to even try? I suppose I didn’t have to shatter that boulder.
Rhino peered into the nooks and crannies of the dam from his vantage point at one of it’s ends. Blinking away at the beginning of this fight will only buy me so much time. I still can’t believe she wants to do this. I’ll have to see if I can end this quickly. Focus, what do you know? She’s skilled, experienced, knows what she’s doing with those bows judging by how she was twirling them, she’s strong, and she’s cunning... This does not bode well. His horn glowed for a moment as he stretched out with his magic to try and find her. Nothing, she’s not close.
He looked around for a moment before suddenly disappearing and reappearing on the underside of one of the walkways further down. Luckily she doesn’t know much about me, not that I’m much more informed on her. Close combat won’t work well for me unless I catch her off guard... I just have to spot her before she spots me. He magically scanned the area before Blinking away again.
A creaking sound came from one side of the area, unnoticed by either of the combatants.
The door to the catwalk opened up, the unicorn filly carefully walking in. Her horn lit up momentarily before the light enveloped her body, morphing to distort the light coming from her. She grinned, examining her now-invisible legs. “Glad I learned that spell.”
She glanced around as she began to walk along the catwalk, searching the room for her friends.
Octavia sighed, starting to get bored. Fine. If he won’t come to me, I’ll go after him. She stepped out of her cover, walking on her hindlegs as her style demanded.
She closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds coming to her. Being a talented musician allowed her to pick out even the smallest of noises. I hear Vinyl, in the same spot she was before. I also hear a filly on the catwalk...I’m not going to contemplate what she’s doing up there. Her ears rotated, doing their best to pick up any sign of her opponent.
There! She pulled out a hoof-mounted grapple-hook, firing the claw end in the direction of the third distinct sound. Before it pulled her up, she flung a stick into the air.
The sudden *click* to his side caused Rhino to glance over. His eyes widened when he saw the rapidly closing mare attached to the chain.
“Found you.” She brought up one of her mythril cello bows, ready to strike.
On an adrenaline-fueled reflex, Rhino Blinked down to where Octavia was, his heart pounding at the close call. He narrowed his eyes as he prepared to score a hit on his opponent. A sudden hit on his back caused him to look and see a stick lying next to him as the score counter flashed in his eyes.
Rhino: 5
Octavia smiled, tipping an imaginary hat to him. “It seems I know you better than you know yourself. And I hardly know you.” She released her grapple-hook and pushed off the wall, rushing straight at him.
Seeing the head-on attack for the second time, Rhino’s horn glowed as he focused on her.
She saw this, bringing up her cello bows to protect herself.
Only for him to smirk as the stick that had got him, now curved it’s way under Octavia, headed straight for her chest from below.
Silently cursing herself for forgetting about simple levitation, she took the hit in the chest, putting one of her bows back to grab onto the boomerang before it fell away. She landed right in front of him, frowning deeply.
Octavia: 5
“Congrats. I didn’t see that coming.” She put her items back on her waist, holding her hooves up. “But I’m not done yet.”
He backed away from her, unsure of what she was doing, but knowing he stood a better chance if he wasn’t close. “Neither am I.” His horn glowed again, but nothing noticeable happened because of it.
She looked curiously at him for a moment before responding. “We’ll see about that.” She leaped forward, hooking his foreleg with her hindleg, yanking it out from under him. She landed an elbow on his back, forcing him into the ground. She leaped away, eyes narrowed. I can’t believe it won’t register multiple hits in succession. That stupid technicality forces me to wait between attacks.
Rhino: 4
Rhino growls in pain as his horn kept glowing. Suddenly an arcane circle forms on the ground beneath himself and Octavia, causing her hooves to slip from under her. As she hits the ground, he pushes her back with a blast of magic. He frowns as the hit counter doesn’t come up.
She slides across the floor outside of the circle, wincing slightly from the abrasion on her hooves. “Magic blasts don’t count towards the score.” She reaches back towards her flank, a hoof digging into the secret pocket there. It soon emerged with a slingshot, which she tossed towards him. “There. That’ll help you out alot.”
The toy bounced off his head. He growled quietly at the added insult to injury. “My thanks.” He stored the slingshot in his mane. “Looks like I’ll have to stop being so timid.”
Above the two, Pinch watched in curiosity. “That looks like his Res circle. Does it have two uses?”
When the mare hit the stallion with the slingshot, she pouted slightly. “Sensei isn’t being very nice right now. I think I want Rhino to win, now.” She thought for a moment, pulling out one of her kunai. “Maybe I can help him a little?”
“Timid? Sounds like you’ve become more like-” She cut herself off as a single black dagger fell on the ground in front of Rhino. “...oh.” She steeled herself, knowing that she couldn’t tease her opponent right now, as that new weapon could very well tip it in his favor.
He levitated the knife to his eye-level, tilting it so he sees his reflection in it as well as see the mare in front of him. He raised his voice, “Pinchy, you might just be my favorite filly!”
“Thanks!~”
He lowers his voice as he focuses on the mare opposite him, “Well this is familiar, let’s try this again.” He Blinks and appears right in her face as the knife swings in an arc in front of him, glowing with his aura.
She, still in her stance, parries the attack with a bow, gritting her teeth slightly. She spun, moving from a block to an attack, her free hoof lashing out at his chest.
His knife intercepted it, curving at a speed only able to be done when not wielded by a limb. However, the attempt caused him to back off from the mare to avoid follow-ups.
To his surprise, she took a few steps back, looking down at his hindlegs.
There, underneath him, lay a single black grenade. It exploded, releasing a volley of black rubber balls at high velocity into his belly and legs. By pure luck, it avoided his genital area.
Rhino: 3
The force of the grenade, though deadened by the vest, still tossed him off the walkway, the knife following but no longer in his aura. A splash from below reveals his landing zone.
Octavia stifled a giggle, looking down into the water at him. “You really are all wet, aren’t you? You should be glad that’s all that happened, though.” She waved a hoof, winking teasingly. “You wouldn’t want your marefriend to go somewhere else for a foal, would you?”
A black blur rocketed out of the water towards her as a voice echoed. “You will NOT talk about her like that!” A moment later revealed the stallion, eyes narrowed and teeth bared as he stood on the surface of the water.
Octavia nonchalantly deflected the kunai with one of her bows and stared at him. For once in her life, she did a very non-classy action.
She grinned in excitement. “That’s more like it.”
Berry Pinch was in the same boat, staring down at her idol. “This is amazing! It’s just like my manga!” She yelped, realizing that the simulation was starting to shift around her. She leaped onto a wall and raced down it, not wanting to fall from the disappearing catwalk.
The concrete and machinery sunk into the ground, but kept the hue of the material. The sky opened up and snow began to fall, the temperature dropping to match the source of the memory. The waterfall stayed, moving off to one side of the field, the stallion now standing on the river formed from its flow.
The earth pony glanced around, smiling brightly. “It seems as though I have the advantage this time, Rhino.” She drew her other cello bow, holding them both up like they were swords. “Shall we dance?”
Rhino exhaled deeply as the thrown knife flew back to him, pinning itself to his side. He stopped baring his teeth, adopting a neutral expression. “But who will lead?” He releases the spell allowing him to stand on water and falls below its surface, and unknown to Octavia, performing a series of quick Blinks to a spot behind the edge of the waterfall.
The mare smirked, closing her eyes once more. She quickly located him with her superb hearing, turning towards the cascading water. He just doesn’t learn, does he? She launched her grapple-hook at a place just under the lip of the cliff.
“Eep!”
Octavia blinked at the sound, seeing her grapple-hook return with a struggling filly in its grasp. “...Berry, what are you doing? You need to leave before you’re hurt!”
She gasped a little, pointing to her neck. Taking the hint, she released her from its grip, allowing her to fall free and take deep, greedy breaths of air. “My point still stands. Besides, you need to be punished for intruding on a closed sparring match.” She grabbed the filly by the scruff of her neck, starting to make her way to where Vinyl stood.
“Please let me stay, Sensei! I want to learn more by watching you two!” She tried her patented doe eyes, but the mare’s current position didn’t allow it to be seen. She sniffled, pouting slightly. “...I bet Rhino would let me stay.”
Sighing, she lowered the filly back to the ground, giving her a stern look. “If Rhino did that, he would be a foal. It’s already a wonder that his universe’s Fluttershy doesn’t mind being with him.” She shook her head, frowning deeply. “From what I’ve seen, he’s impulsive, the opposite of how she acts. Don’t get me wrong, he’s brilliant, but his weaknesses are readily apparent.” She chuckled, smirking slightly. “Makes me wonder if he tricked her into being with him.” She turned to where the filly was, but saw nothing. She blinked, surprised, glancing over to see where she went.
The small unicorn smiled, small magic sparks still in the air around her. “Just learned this from watching Rhino. Speaking of...”
Rhino gritted his teeth as he heard Octavia from his spot where he had Blinked to watch her deal with Pinchy. He appeared to her left and said simply, “I earned my spot in her heart.” As Octavia turned to where he was, he had already disappeared and was rapidly approaching her right side. He glided across the ground as if he were skating, his speed constantly increasing until he rose up and slammed into her side with a hoof.
Octavia: 4
The mare found herself sailing through the air. “...huh. I guess his strength increased.” She turned and landed on the side of the wall, glancing briefly at where they were standing. With a smirk, she raced down the wall, cello bow in hoof. She launched off the wall and landed on the ground, continuing her charge towards him. What happened next, though, surprised her.
Pinch Blinked in front of the stallion, holding her forehooves out in an attempt to protect him from the attack. “Don’t hurt Rhino! Please! He’s my friend!”
Octavia didn’t slow down, calculating a way to go around the little filly. She was determined to beat him, her eyes narrowed behind her shades.
Rhino, seeing the mare not stopping, grabbed the filly with his magic and put her on his back, even as he lit up the ground around his opponent with his circle again. He Blinked again in series until he and Pinchy were at the top of the cliff, where he set her down as he tried to catch his breath from the larger exertion of moving two bodies. He looked down to see how Octavia fared.
It was at that moment the grapple-hook grabbed his face. The earth pony let herself be pulled towards the stallion, bringing her knee up against his chin and knocking him into the air.
Rhino: 2
Octavia landed on the edge of the cliff, smirking at him. “I thank you for getting Pinch out of the way. However, I’m still going to beat you.” She placed a hoof on his chest, pinning him to the ground. “So, do you want to say something, or are you going to accept defeat?”
He stared at her. “Pinchy, stay safe.”
The little filly looked from one pony to the other, torn. She leaned down, gently nuzzling the stallion’s cheek. “You’ll win, Rhino. I know you will.” She silently placed a kunai under his hoof.
“Right.” The mare rolled her eyes, frowning slightly. “If he couldn’t beat me, then how would he keep his precious marefriend safe? I think his cowardice will just lead to heartache when some pack of Timberwolves overpowers him and takes her away.”
He growled at her words.
She continued, seeing the reaction it was getting out of him. “Perhaps it won’t even have to be timberwolves.” She raised her hoof only to stomp it back down.
Rhino: 1
“She could just leave him. I would, if I were her. Maybe all it will take is a stallion to come by with a bit more confidence, being enough of a rock to make her turn to him...make her theirs.” If this doesn’t rile him up, I don’t know what will.
The filly pushed her off her idol, visibly upset. “S-sensei, stop! Why are you doing this?!”
She stared down at her pupil icily, her shades having fallen off from the shove. “Because it needs to be said. Nopony else will tell him the truth.” ...okay, maybe I went a little too far with that line. She sighed, turning to her opponent to apologize only to freeze in place, shocked.
His eyes were locked onto hers. His breathing was deep and rapid. His mouth was in a horrible grimace. Suddenly his hoof flicked upward and plunged the knife into her hoof that was pinning him.
She recoiled, hissing in pain. She stepped back, keeping her hoof off the ground.
He rose from his prone position, eyes still locked onto hers. The blue stripe in both his mane and tail changed to blood red, as if somepony has poured paint into them from the roots. He levitated the knife out of his hoof as it dripped her blood.
Pinch curled into a little ball, looking up at him in stunned silence.
Octavia, on the other hoof, became more determined, quickly wrapping a spare bandage around her wounded forehoof. She held up her cello bows, ready to deflect any more attacks from the knife.
Or so she thought.
He let out a snarl as he launched the knife at her, even as he Blinked to her side.
With the multiple threats occurring at the same time, she had no idea which one to go for. She decided on the knife, as it was aimed blade-first at her face, deflecting it with her bow.
Taking advantage of her priorities, Rhino slammed a hoof into the side of her face. The blow caused her to fall over the far edge of the cliff into the out-of-bounds area.
Octavia: 2
He gave her no time to rest, his eyes instantly searching for her form, which he spotted back down in the field.
She groaned, shaking her head. “...I will not lose.” She pulled out a small black sphere, grimacing a little at the pain in her hoof. “...it’ll be worth it.” She grabbed the stick from before off her back and flung it at where she assumed he was.
Rhino appeared down on the field, a short distance away from Octavia. He saw the boomerang coming towards him and simply batted it another direction with a burst of magic. His eyes settled on her as he approached.
She smirked, holding one of her cello bows out to him. “Let’s settle this.” She flipped it over, leaping at him and swinging it swiftly, aiming for his shoulder.
He once again Blinked out of her way, this time phasing in directly above her. His snarl morphed into a predatory grin as he roughly yanked her unused cello bow off her back with his magic before landing.
“Sneaky, sneaky.” She giggled, holding her injured hoof behind her back, her cello bow at the ready. “I’ll just have to punish you for that.”
He simply chuckled before launching towards her, wielding both knife and bow with his magic.
She parried and blocked with relative ease, glad she wasn’t left-hooved. Even so, he still got in a few cuts with the kunai. She bit her lower lip as a third laceration appeared on her foreleg, dangerously close to a major artery. “You’re using magic, aren’t you?” She barely managed to deflect an attack aimed at her shoulder, gritting her teeth with the strain. “Yes, you are, speeding up your steps. Not very sporting of you, Rhino.”
He responded by making his horn glow even brighter as a familiar circle appeared underneath Octavia’s hooves. This time though, instead of making her slip, her hooves found themselves anchored to the ground and unable to move.
“Not this time!” She stabbed the ground with her bow, freeing her legs, and landed on top of it, smirking at him. Then it hit her. ...I’m unarmed. Buck.
He grinned unsettlingly as he swung her own bow in a viscous arc across her face. She spun from the blow, falling off her cello bow and landing on the ground in front of him on her right side.
Octavia: 1
She groaned, looking up at him with one eye. A coy smile grew on her lips. “...like I said...I won’t lose...” Her words were punctuated with a whistling sound coming from behind her.
Rhino didn’t acknowledge the whistle, instead he raised up both bow and knife as he loomed over her. Both weapons trained their points on her chest.
That’s when the boomerang hit him in the forehead. It wasn’t strong enough to register as a hit, though. With a small smirk, she brought her left hoof from behind her back, holding a small black sphere, the silvery pin falling to the ground. “You remember this, right?”
He snarled as he tried to bring the weapons down on her, only to realize that they lay motionless on the ground. A silver ring glinted on his horn.
She chuckled, slowly sitting up. “Magic inhibitor ring.” She lowered her head, smiling softly.
“Boom.”
The bomb exploded, hitting them both with rubber balls. Her body locked up, feeling the paralyzing effects of the vest. She watched as he started to tilt towards her. ...uh oh.
Octavia: 0
Rhino: 0
The arena faded, leaving only its two combatants as evidence to its passing.
“...since we can’t really do much other than talk right now...” She looked up at him, remorse clear on her face. “...I want to apologize...also, your hindleg is in a rather...personal area...”
He stayed silent a moment as his breathing slowed and his usual blue returned to his mane and tail. He spoke quietly, “I would rather just not think about what happened... and umm,” a flush appeared on his face from their compromising position, “Sorry.”
“I insist on apologizing. I egged you on, wanting to see your full potential. I even said hurtful, untrue things.” She looked away, blushing a bit in embarrassment and shame. “...you’re a good stallion, Rhino...your marefriend’s lucky to have you in her life...”
He smiles too, “Thank you. I thought it might have been something like that, but my reflexes to things like that are a bit beyond my rational thinking sometimes. You alright?”
“Aside from you rubbing me a little every time one of us breaths, I’m fine.” She glanced down at the cuts on her forelegs, seeing them visibly sealing themselves up. “Vinyl really wasn’t kidding about that rapid healing, was she?”
He laughed tiredly. “Hopefully somepony finds us before that five-hour paralyzation also takes it’s full effect... I give myself 15 minutes before I pass out from all the energy I spent.”
“Strange.” She looked up, her eyes crossing a bit as she thought to herself. “Stamina should be replenished at the same time. I guess magical stamina is different from normal stamina.”
“There you two are!”
Pinch raced up to them, grinning, her hooves glowing magenta. She stopped in front of them, seeing their current situation. “...why are you two doing mommy and daddy’s special hug?”
Rhino’s face burned as he let his head fall to the ground in embarrassment. “You want this or shall I take it, Octavia?”
“I teach her enough, as it is.” She smirked playfully. “You tell her.”
“Ok Pinchy, Lesson One: Unfortunate Circumstances.”
“Yay!” She grabbed a stone large enough to sit on and pulled it over, sitting herself down, paying rapt attention to her idol from another dimension as he began the lesson.
It didn’t occur to any of them to ask the filly to undo the paralyzing mechanism.