//------------------------------// // Charlie Vs. Foxtrot Part 2: Tradewind Vs. Little Star // Story: Wonderful Mechanical: Keen Eye and the Wonderbolt Saboteur. // by Monocrome_Monogatari //------------------------------// “Keen. Stop applauding.” “What?” I interrupted my stomping and turned to Swift, who was staring at me sternly. “Ponies are staring.” I looked around, and noticed too late how we were in the spotlight. Everypony in the bleachers, their faces blanched from the last fight’s carnage, were now wide eyed and gawking at my applauding. Rivet was slowly scooting away from me, covering his face. “I don’t know him…I don’t know him…” “He he he…oops…” I slunk back into my seat, embarrassed, as I scratched the back of my head. “Well… you can’t say that it wasn’t a good fight, right guys?” I tried to salvage the situation. Neither of them answered me. “…Right guys?” “AHEM!” “Wah!” I jumped back in my seat. Silver had flown directly to my face. “If the-one pony peanut gallery is done here—“ “Oh wait.” I said. “Give me a moment.” I turned to Rivet. “I mean, did you see her? She really was black and white and red all over after that last match. I’ve always said that newspapers were for the birds!” Rivet began to scoot away faster. “I REALLY don’t know him.” “Okay, now I’m done.” I said to Silver. He narrowed his eyes at me, before noticing the pass around my neck. “You keep interrupting my practice, and I’ll shove that guest pass so far down your throat, your breakfast will have more right in the compound than you.” “Sir yes sir.” I said, sweating under his glare. “I’m sure my curry will love it. I’m glad that the Wonderbolts are so accepting of international visitors.” “…” He turned away, shaking his head and muttering to himself as he returned to the arena. “Rotten punk…” “How rude…” I crossed my forearms once he was out of earshot. “I’ll have you know that I’m, in fact, a very fresh punk.” “Keeeen…” Rivet groaned. “You’re not doing yourself any favors, getting on Silver’s bad side. Everypony listens to him. He’s like a father figure to most of the ‘Bolts.” “Maybe it’s because I’m a very fresh punk, but that just makes me want to piss him off harder. Isn’t that right?” I turned to Swift for a brohoof, which he didn't return. Rivet’s only response was to repeatedly hit his forehead against his hooves. “Anyways, Rivet.” I let my tone be serious again. “Did you notice anything with the cloud machines?” “Hm?” He lifted his head from his hooves. “Oh… I admit the fight made it kind of hard to focus but, no. Everything is working as it should be.” “Did you see anyone fly up to them? Or the control panel?” “Not really.” He pointed to a metal podium in the back, manned by a bored looking stallion. How he looked bored after that, I don’t know. “The only pony that’s touched it is the pony running it.” “Hmm…” “Atten-SHUN!” Silver bellowed down below. “Right now it’s Charlie-0, Foxtrot-1. Charlie, you’d better get your rears in gear, because tomorrow the losing squad will be running 10 laps for each point they lost! Do you understand?!” “SIR YES SIR!” Silver reached into Foxtrot’s bowl of cards. “Little Star! You’re up!” Out flew a foal-sized yellow mare, with a pink-purple mane and a dragonfly cutie mark. “Okay hold up. You let ponies join the Wonderbolts at that age?” I asked Swift. He chuclked. “She’s been hearing that a lot. You see she—“ “I mean, she must be at least 30!... Why are you two looking at me like that?” Both of them looked surprised. “Most ponies guess that she’s younger.” Rivet said. “A lot younger…” “…You mean it isn’t obvious?” “Tradewind! You’re up!” As we were chatting, Silver had drawn the next card. “…Are you sure that Silver’s really picking at random?” I asked. Swift shrugged. “Why wouldn’t he?” “Well, he seems to have a thing for having petite mares fight hulking stallions. Are you sure that isn’t his fetish? “PFFFFF—“ Swift clamped his hooves over his mouth to contain his laughter, earning a glare from Silver down below. “Guys…” Rivet warned. Tradewind was an oak of a stallion, both in terms of size and in terms of color. His wooden brown coat contrasted with his thin dark green mane, which spilled down his neck. His cutie mark was a shipping crate. The most outstanding detail about him was his wings. I called Calm’s wings over-sized earlier, but this guy really takes the cake. It’s not just that they’re large, it’s that they’re out of proportion with his body, one and a half times larger than they should be. Even folded against his sides, the tip of his wings were dragging against the ground. Come to think of it… Calm Wind… Tradewind… I wonder if they’re cousins or something… “Wow!” Little Star chirped. “It’s like we’ll be fighting our complete opposite!” Tradewind just lowered his head and mumbled. “Man after all that buildup it’s you I’m fighting. This really is the worst matchup. I was hoping for someone exciting at least.” Little star titled her head, not making out any of it. “Excuse me?” Tradewind just sighed. “Nothing…” “So…what’s their stories?” I asked. This time it was Rivet who answered. “Little Star…” He began, looking for the right words. “Little Star is a Wonderbolt. That’s the important part. She trained for years to be a Wonderbolt. She tried out for years to be a Wonderbolt. She only recently passed, that’s why she’s joining so late.” That explains why she’s so damn chipper then. Living proof of the Equestrian Dream. Even against insurmountable odds, if you put in enough effort, you’ll achieve your dreams… I can never understand Ponies like that. “As for Tradewind…” Swift took over. “Um… I’m not sure. I know he was a long distance delivery stallion before joining but nothing else. He doesn’t exactly talk to ponies, just mumbles to himself.” “You know…” I wondered aloud “even if it’s not a real fight, I’m pretty sure they could argue that this matchup is completely unfair.” Swift just beamed pridefully at that. “If we complained every time something was unfair, we wouldn’t be Wonderbolts.” And with that, the buzzer went off. Unlike last match, both fighters took a more cautious start. Little Star took to the air and hovered a good distance away from Tradewind, her tiny wings flapping at an unbelievable cadence. Tradewind did the opposite, lowering his stance, digging his hooves into the ground, and flaring his enormous wings out. “That’s an odd stance” I said. “He’s leaving his wings wide open… if one of them gets injured, he won’t be able to take to the air.” “He’s not going to.” Swift replied. “He fights best on the ground.” “A pegasus ground fighter? Isn’t that more of an earth pony thing?” “No, those wings are out for a reason. He fights in a way only a pegasus can fight.” The two continued to stare each other own, each winding down the timer, each waiting for the other to make a move. This continued for a good 40 seconds before somepony in the crowd got impatient. “Get on with it!” “Well,” Little Star smiled, “you heard them.” She rushed forward, going from standstill to speeding in an instant. WPM manipulation…She doesn’t have much wingpower, so her speed is decided by her wingbeats per minute…because of that she has much finer control of her speed and movement. Tradewind didn’t move from his spot, instead gritting his teeth and pulling his wings back. When he flapped them forward— “AH!” --a massive gust of wind sent little star tumbling in the air, headed straight for the bleachers. “Oh no…” Rivet covered his eyes as the audience winced at the incoming impact. “Hrrg… Got it!” Little Star said. The entire dome breathed a sigh of relief. She narrowly avoided ring-out and injury by grabbing onto the edge of the pit. “Wow!” she said as she returned to the ground floor. “That was scary…” “That…” Swift said “was Tradewind’s trademark Air Wall. Practically guaranteed to send the opponent back.” I get it. Using his massive wingspan and channeling all of his pegasus magic into his wings, he creates a massive gust. That’s why he sticks to the ground. If he did it in air, he would launch himself backwards as well. “Normally he would follow up the opening made by his Air Wall with an attack, but in this matchup he doesn’t have to bother…” He leaned forward intently. “How’s Little Star going to get around this?” The two had reverted to their stare down, Tradewind readying his wings for another Air Wall, and Little Star waiting with a contemplative look on her face, trying to figure out a way around the barrier. She glanced back at the wall of the pit, her eyes lit up, and she turned toward Tradewind with a smirk. “Alright, let’s go again. I promise that it won’t be the same this time.” “Why do they always have to talk. Just get on with it. It doesn’t really matter either way…” She flew toward Tradewind again, this time bounding much closer to the ground. The moment she got close, he threw another Air Wall and she was again launched backwards. “So much for it not being the same…” I muttered. She flapped her wings wildly to stabilize herself, and then turned toward the wall she was rapidly approaching. “Told you!” she yelled as she landed hooves first against the wall, and kicked off to relaunch herself at Tradewind. He grunted as he set up his next air wall, launching her again as she got close. She relaunched off the wall and approached him from his left. He adjusted his position and blew her away again. She relaunched and approached from his right. He blew her away again. She relaunched and tried to curve around to his back. He spun on his back hooves and planted himself on the ground before blowing her away again. Back and forth, they repeated this same cycle as Little Star tried angle after angle, and Tradewind kept up his defense. Each time she relaunched off the wall, she got a little more speed. If she kept this up, she could break through the wall. “Here I come!” She shouted as she made another relaunch, this time headed straight for him. His wings at the ready for the next Air Wall. Right before she got to the point where he would launch it, she disappeared. “Huh?!” His body was too caught up in the rhythm of the fight to react, and he launched his Air Wall at nothing. He spun around as he searched the arena, finding no trace of her. “Up here!” He looked up just in time to see her slamming her entire body weight down on his head. “Augh!” “Wow…” I whistled. She used the relaunches to set up a rhythm for him to follow, then on the last shot, right before she entered his area of attack, she made a sudden stop, then flew straight up, too fast for his eyes to process, and tricked him with that rhythm to attack at the wrong time. She couldn’t make it through the Air Wall, so she went around it. She took to the ground, gasping. “How was that?” She asked between breaths, collecting herself. “I wonder if I should call that move anything. The Twinkle Feint? The Feint Twinkle? No…that doesn’t work…” Tradewind just muttered something to himself as he shook off the blow. As hard as it was, their size difference made itself apparent, as he seemed barely bothered by it. He took his stance again. The tides seemed to be turning away from Little Star. As impressive as her last showing was, the same trick probably won’t work twice, and while he looked barely winded, she looked completely exhausted. Unfazed, she took to the skies again. “Alright… lets go again.” His glare hardened as she flew toward him. He pulled his wings back, but as she got in range again, he clamped them to his sides and threw a hoof back to strike her— “BZZZT” Before he could see how his feint worked, the buzzer sounded again, signaling they had timed out. He slowly brought his hoof to the ground as Little Star took the buzzer as cue to completely collapse. “Good…fight…” she forced out, finally indulging herself in her exhaustion. He just nodded. “It doesn’t look good for her…” Rivet said. The winner seemed obvious, the one still standing. “She put up a good fight.” Swift said admiringly. “Was it really worth it though?” I asked. “Huh?” Swift seemed shocked I would ask that. “Well, think about it. She surprised everypony and got a hit in, but the end result was the same. It was impossible from the start. Wouldn’t it have been better if she had surrendered after the first Air Wall? Why waste energy on impossible things?” He looked almost offended at my question, but before he could make a retort, Silver had already taken the floor. “You okay?” He asked Little Star as he helped her up. She nodded weakly. Tradewind was already walking to the exit. “You did a good job. Get some water and rest.” Off she went, trailing after Tradewind. Silver then addressed the audience. “The winner is… Little Star.” Both of them turned around and stared at Silver in shock. Answering the unsaid question, he said “From what I can tell, Little Star hit you once. You didn’t hit her at all” his voice took a grave turn “I said I wanted your all and you half-assed it.” “Of course, of course this is how it ends. Why not, it’s not like I was expecting anything else” Swift was smiling smugly at me. “…Shut up.”