Rhino can hear what he assumes is his next obstacle long before he can see it. Strangely enough, the sound is that of a medium-slow violin piece. He crouches down and tries to be stealthy as he approaches the entryway that seems to lead to the source of the music. He peeks in and sees a room that appears to be made, or at least coated, in metal, and a single changeling is its sole occupant.
The purple-tinted nymph is seated on her ornate throne, playing an instrument of pure metal. Her eyes appear to be shut in the relative darkness of the room. To her side is a long, dark metal staff, but she doesn't seem to pay it any mind, favoring her violin and the somber music she's playing.
Rhino spots the doorway to the next floor behind her. After muttering a few curses in his mind to the ones who designed the tower, he slowly creeps into the room as he debates the merits between avoiding a fight and leaving his back open, or launching a surprise attack.
His choices are stripped away as soon as he enters, and a couple of stomps can be heard from the changeling's direction. She glares at him, having jumped to her hindlegs. She points her bow at him and then at the doorway he just entered.
Rhino quickly looks behind himself to make sure he isn't being flanked. Seeing nothing there he turns back to the nymph with a questioning look.
She stamps the ground once more, fiercely pointing at doorway, scowling at him.
Her meaning clicks in his mind and he shakes his head. "I'll leave, but only when I have her back."
She appears to roll her eyes and begins to tap her hooves across the metal floor. She brings her bow back up and pulls it across the strings, a long, slow note at first, accompanied by the unusual percussion her hindhoof provides.
As she does this, the room appears to ripple around her, distorting with the sound of the music.
Rhino braces himself, unsure of what she is doing, but having a distinct feeling he isn't going to like it.
She starts playing a medium paced song, smirking at him. On the first short note, a spike of metal pops up right in front of him, jabbing the tip of his nose.
He quickly backsteps with a grunt, the spike not quite having broke the skin, but succeeding in making him extremely worried. He directs a wave of magical force with his horn, it sweeps into the purple changeling's rear hooves, hopefully knocking her down or at least disrupting her balance.
On the contrary, she incorporates the stumble it causes into her song, quickly sending a flurry of spikes at him. The whole time she dances and plays, as if performing some strange concert for one.
He growls as he focuses, using his mind's previous torture of itself with Gel's predicament to motivate him. He Binks past the wave of spikes and then Blinks again to appear behind her with his back to her. He braces both of his forehooves and bucks her with both of his hind ones.
She doesn't move, pausing her music to tap at her chest. The nymph shakes her head and kicks him to the side, not even pretending to be holding back. With the well-developed muscles in her hindlegs, this sends him flying through one of the many pillars and into a wall. She doesn't even turn to look at him as she continues playing, now at a much slower part of the song.
Rhino groans as he picks himself off the ground, shaken by the strength of his opponent. He watches her play for a moment before getting a small idea and powering up his hooves with Res. He lets the song flow through him as he listens for the likely notes that will signal her attacks and prepare to dodge them.
She starts to stomp once more, the tempo quickly picking up and the spikes starting to rush at the stallion from nearly every direction.
Still in time with her beat, he Blinks out of the spike trap and reappears to her side. He summons the same circle he used on Flick and a large gout of flame launches toward her.
She simply stomps, a large wall of metal rising up out of the floor and blocking the attack. The wall turns bright red, superheated from the fire and, with a single note, a spike pushes out at him from it.
Rhino immediately kicks backwards to avoid it, still irritated that he hasn't managed to even scratch her yet. He spots her staff still laying untouched and wonders if that could be of any use. As he continues to dodge her rhythmic spikes, his horn lights up and his aura appears around the staff, only to fizzle out.
She smirks, shaking her head. She narrows her eyes and starts a new song, the notes coming fast and the sound of her hoof against metal steady. The metal of a nearby pillar turns into a liquid snake, the girth giving it a large form, almost one and a half times the size of the stallion's body. It slithers forward, its sword-like fangs bared eagerly at him.
Rhino eyes widen as he quickly retreats from the snake. Thinking fast, he calls upon other of his spells that he thought might be useful. He quickly Blinks into the center of the room and lights up his horn, an arcane circle appearing in front of him. He Blinks away behind of one the pillars of the room just as the circle flares with light almost as bright as the sun, filling the room with light and pitching any shadows into the deepest darkness.
The nymph covers her eyes, her mouth open in a silent scream of agony. With no music playing, the snake solidifies, a silent silver guardian of the incapacitated changeling.
The flaring circle continues for a few more seconds before popping out of existence. Rhino uses this opportunity to Blink right next to the nymph's staff and grabs it with a foreleg. He leans back and uses his weight to swing it around in a viscous arc right at the changeling.
Luster raises a hoof and stops the heavy pole in its tracks. Her ears twitch for a moment before she grips it and uses it to swing Rhino, still on the other end, into a pillar. Her eyes are still closed, so it's clear she can't see what is happening and is possibly waiting for her eyes to recover.
Rhino picks himself up again, thankful he keeps hitting walls with his back because that's probably the part of him that can take it the best. As he brings a hoof up to wipe a bit of sweat off his face, he realizes he still has a nice coat of yellow on it, so he peels it off like Flick said he could. This gives him a moment to think. After he discards the dried paint, his horn lights up again as he makes two more waves of magic, one at her head height and the other aimed for her rear hooves. They are both on opposite sides of her. He launches them.
She swiftly swings her staff, intercepting both waves with it and dispersing them on contact. She flips the pole up and grabs onto it, hanging from the ceiling a moment before bending her back half up and pushing off, intending to bring the pole down on top of his head. This whole time, a purple gem in the center of the pole glows brightly, illuminating a circle carved into the metal.
Rhino quickly sidesteps the swipe to a resounding 'clang' as it impacts the floor. He throws a hoof into the side of the changeling's head, hoping it would do something, but he Blinks away right after the impact just in case it didn't.
She ducks underneath it and swings where he was, the staff striking a pillar. She frowns, her ears swivelling as she tries to hear where he went. She stomps once, causing several spikes to jut out of the metal every few yards, as if testing to see where he went.
Luckily, Rhino hadn't Blinked to the floor, but to the ceiling. He stays completely still as he tries to figure out a strategy that would actually work. A few possibilities come to mind and he decides to try them. His horn lights up and multiple fire circles appear in the air around and above the nymph. All at once, the infernos race at her.
Her ears twitch and she stomps, metal racing up to cover her body. It covers her a split second before the flames reach her, quickly turning red-hot from the heat. As soon as they finish, she slowly turns around, the metal moving from her eyes. The indigo spheres glare up at him and the nymph stomps, aiming a spike right at his abdomen.
Rhino Blinks away again, something he knows is probably getting on her nerves but is saving his flank so he has no intention of stopping. He lands on the floor a short distance away and light up his horn for the next idea he has. The floor around the nymph is suddenly lit up with his Res circle, making it slick. As her hooves slide from under her and she is briefly laying on the ground, Rhino switches the circle to the other form of Res and sticks her to the surface. His horn continues glowing as the fire-launching circle again appears directly above her, but this time it is more than double the size of the other times he's used it, and he is prepared to maintain it for longer as well. With an eerie orange glow the circle finishes and releases a column of flame down at the changeling.
Luster watches the oncoming flames with an eerie calm. She smirks at him as she sinks into the floor a second before the fire hits, a smoldering wisp of smoke left on the floor.
"What the..." Rhino ends the spell quickly to not use too much energy as he looks at the spot where she disappeared. He realizes after a moment that the room is covered in the material she went into and starts Blinking around at random intervals, hoping to not be caught by surprise but having no idea where to look for her.
In the middle of one of his Blinks, spikes push out of every surface, long and thin with barely enough room for a pony between them. If one were to be hit by one, it's doubtful it wouldn't pierce them through.
When Rhino reappears, he comes out of the teleport mostly between the spikes, but one of them goes up his side. If he were a pegasus, that would have gone straight through his wing, but being a unicorn, he just got a nasty scratch up his ribs.
As soon as he appears, more spires erupt from the metal, and branching thorns off of those. This effectively pins the stallion in place, and sends a few more barbs into his side.
Rhino doesn't move so as not to make things worse. The scratches sting, but he's had worse, not quite in this number, but still. He stays in place for a moment as he thinks, trying to find a way out. He could Blink, but the spikes are still a problem not matter where he goes. After a bit more pondering, he has a crazy idea. He would normally like to test this first, but one must take circumstances into account. His horn glows and the runes for Res appear, but not in an arcane circles. Instead, they appear all over the stallion's body, up his legs, across his back, and even on his face. He activates low Res and hopes. A series of creaks make him smile as his body and the metal push away from each other, not much, but enough to where they aren't touching, which at least lets him move.
The nymph slowly emerges from a spike in the ceiling, frowning deeply as her masterpiece of a battle strategy keeps getting interrupted by this unicorn, this tasteless brute. A glimmer off the stallion's neck catches her eye, a sly grin gracing her lips. She narrows her eyes and concentrates, the chain around his neck shrinking until it's a choker and then becoming smaller still.
Rhino coughs as the tightening chain overpowers his small all-over forcefield of Res. He barely consider simply breaking the chain with a quick snap of magic, but rejects that idea, both from an unwillingness to part from the thing tying him to Gel, and form the thought that Luster would probably just keep the necklace there anyway. He redirects Res to concentrate on his neck area leaving a minimum amount everywhere else on his body, the spikes around him thankfully staying in place due to the nymph concentrating on this other task. His runes on his body glow brighter as he fights the mare's powers for time as he tries to think of a way out of this.
Hoping to break her concentration until he thinks of something better, a ball magical force forms just above and behind his opponent. As he continues to fight for his right to breathe, he launches it and it impacts with the back of her head.
Not expecting the blow, the nymph staggers, her focus failing and the spikes all falling back into the walls. She lands on the ground behind him with a loud thud, quickly getting back up and grabbing her long pole, not ready to give up the fight. She immediately knocks his hindlegs apart and swings the tip of the staff up, trying to hit him where it would really hurt.
Luckily Rhino Blinks away in time so that all she hits is air. He reappears a distance away from her, his body still covered in Res. With how hard this mare hits, he decides to keep it on himself, thinking that any cushion to her blows would be appreciated. The now luminously tattooed stallion forms two more magical force balls behind her and launches them, hoping to gauge their effectiveness.
She spins and swings her black metal staff, actually deflecting the balls into two columns. She plants it on the ground and taps it with a hoof, smirking haughtily at him.
Rhino groans as he lightly pants, the constant intensity of this fight plus his long journey before getting to him. "I... don't suppose we can talk about this?"
Her eye twitches, annoyed by this. She throws down her pole and furiously points at her throat, acting as if what she was indicating was obvious.
He stares for a moment before something occurs to him. "I... don't suppose you're mute and what I said actually sounded incredibly insensitive? If so, sorry about that, honest unfortunate turn of phrase."
She quirks an eyebrow at him, tapping her hoof at this. She rolls her eyes and, deciding to change the subject, gestures at his shoulder, where one of his runes lay, a curious look on her face.
He looks to the shoulder in question before turning back to her. "Yeah, bit of a crazy idea there, wasn't sure it would work. Glad it did though, might have some interesting applications once all this is done but for now it does a decent job of saving my flank in certain situations. Never tried using runes in anything but circles before..."
She shakes her head and stomps on one end of her staff, flipping it up into her grip. She turns it around and motions to the gem and the glowing markings, as if trying to show it to him.
He nods, seeing the inscriptions. "Yes, I suppose enchanting isn't always in circles, but I haven't really seen that many applications of enchanted items that aren't... you know..." he gestures at his necklace, "small and with the the enchantment completely based inside of a gem." He looks back to the staff. "Plus I mean, at least mine come off, items tend to be stuck with their enchantments unless somepony bothers to dispel everything, and most don't." He looks curiously at the runes before his eyes light up in recognition. "Ah, magnetism. Excellent complement to your skills."
Luster actually smiles a little at this, bowing gratefully at him. She pauses mid-action, frowning slightly. She gestures up and then taps her chest, following it up with a slice motion across her neck and then shivering slightly.
Rhino frowns as he straightens up into a more casual stance. "You know, Flick said that exact same thing. Frankly, it seems to me that if you made it this far in the military, surely you've proven your loyalty that one mistake shouldn't get you killed. Well, I don't think anything should get you killed but you know what I mean."
She shrugs, nodding in agreement. She taps her chin, tilting her head as something occurs to her. She points down, and then to her mouth, her curious look returning.
Rhino goes on instinct to understand what she is conveying. "Assuming I'm understand you right... Yes, Flick and I did speak while we fought. You were actually mentioned a few times, if your name is Luster."
She slowly nods, her eyes narrowing slightly. She motions for him to continue, wondering what the drone had said.
He thinks on how to word this. "He expressed that you both had... differing tastes in art."
She stomps her hoof and starts gesturing wildly, pacing in front of her ornate chair, her lips moving in a silent rant. She goes about this for a few minutes before pulling some metal from her throne and shaping it into a violin, playing some notes in an attempt to calm herself down.
Rhino waits until it sounds as though she's through. "Is it really that big of a deal to have different opinions? He's into painting, you're into music. It doesn't seem like that should forge such a rift between siblings... On a side note though, you do play beautifully, and I've heard some of the best symphonies in Canterlot a time or two."
She falters, fumbling the bow and causing a screech in her surprise. She blushes softly, rubbing the back of her neck. She shrugs as nonchalantly as possible, given how flattered she is, before returning to her violin, her hooves shaky as she starts tuning it.
He tilts his head. "What? Surely somepony... or changeling... has complimented you on your ability before."
She shakes her head, frowning sadly. She doesn't make any move to expand on that thought, as it is hard for one without words to do so.
"Well that is just shameful." He takes a few steps forward. "I think you could rival the best with that. And the ability to play one out of pure metal is impressive in its own right." He thinks for a moment. "Is that how you try to convey your more complex thoughts? I mean I guess you could always write them, but music would probably speak to their souls instead of their minds so I could see why you would go that way."
She appears to giggle, her shoulders moving with the action. She nods and plays her violin once more, sitting down on her throne to give her hindlegs some rest. She does tap her hoof against the floor, giving him a little questioning look.
He tries to understand what that means, but ultimately fails. "Umm... I'm sorry, but I don't really understand that one... Are you asking about my opinion on the room?"
She facehooves and stands up once more. She continues to play, tapping her hoof against the floor in various ways, each one producing a unique sound, varying from drum beats to a short, hollow note.
It hits him. "Oh! You're asking about the percussion... Yes, that is impressive as well, especially considering you can do such a wide array of notes." He observes her a bit more before continuing. "It seems like the way you cause the sounds also makes it look like you are dancing... you are just full of performance abilities aren't you? Actually... the fact that you then combine them into your fighting style adds to it as well... you are just more and more impressive the more I think about it..."
She bows deeply, if only to hide her vibrantly blushing face. She stands in front of him, feeling a little awkward, wanting to thank him but unable to do so properly.
As he sees her standing there, one hoof idly scraping the ground, he decides to take the first step. "Was there something else you wanted to... tell/show me?"
She taps her chin and, deciding that there isn't much else she can do to show her gratitude, pulls a small, metal key out of her mane, giving it to him. She smiles kindly at him, sitting down on the floor.
He looks down at the key, his runes fading off his coat. "Wow... thank you... you really want to give me this for a few truthful statements?"
Luster nods at him, a tendril of metal picking up her staff. As it starts to coil itself like a spring, she gives him a small salute and closes her eyes, her body tensing slightly.
His eyes widen as he quickly steps forward and pulls her away from the staff. "Woah woah woah, no need to hurt yourself!"
She blinks her eyes open, staring up at him in a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
He lightly taps her head. "I don't want a friend to damage her talent, especially for me. Surely there's a better way?"
She scratches her head, thinking for a moment. She nods and lays down on the ground, the silver tentacle gingerly placing the rod by her head, as if it was dropped after knocking her out.
He smiles, crouching down to speak with her on her level. "Thank you... And you know... when I leave here... you're welcome to come along. Maybe we could find you a way to show the world how amazing you are."
She smiles and shrugs, holding out a hoof for him to shake.
He shakes her hoof, once again surprised by her strength, shown this time in her grip. "I'll see you when I'm coming back down... think about it, alright?" He lets go and heads towards the door, unlocking it with the small key. As he steps onto the first stair he looks behind him and smiles softly at the nymph, lying prone with her eyes closed. He turns and heads up the stairs to the next likely interesting encounter.