The time draws near for Socratic to get his ass bea-... I mean to fight me. Starting Monday [3/25/2013], the match will run until a death blow is unanimously decided upon by at least five of the judges overseeing the match.

Yes, that means it could go on for a while. Who are the judges overseeing the match? Well, the same judges who have been overseeing all the matches.

For the duration of the exhibition match, I will act as a regular participant. I will have all my posts approved by the observing judges, and will follow all the rules as you all did in your battles. Socratic and I have agreed to refrain from contesting any judgments made on the other's posts (as those inevitably come back to me, and I do not trust myself to be unbiased in this scenario).

Also, for anyone who didn't know, Malik won the OC vote by a landslide, so I will be using his character to put the hurt on Virgil.

IMPORTANT:
In addition to screwing me by judging my posts, you may also ruin my day by selecting the arena where I will fight Virgil. Whatever you think of Aurus can make, but be reasonable. Do not suggest impossible environments, such as the vacuum of space, or the core of the planet, for example.

Please post any recommendations for arenas below, and vote for whichever one you want to see us beat each other up in on this thread. I will check back on Monday, and the (reasonably possible) arena with the most votes will be used.

Commence recommending, and voting!

Your arena, should you choose to accept it: Inside a giant clock tower, ideally in the middle of the night, gears and pendulums and stuff spinning away in the duel between the old tinker and the shadow knight.

I can see it now.... and it is epic.

802277
I second that motion. It even brings to mind nice background music, a gentle mix of classical and rock maybe, like something from Soul Calibur.

802277
Either this or inside a giant china shop.

802280 Precisely!

Or inside an incredibly dense forest. Plenty of possible hiding places, strikes from above easily possible as well as from below, hidden in the foliage.

The Skylands, hundreds of floating islands miles above the surface.

Alternate idea: The Great Battlefield. An immense dusty wasteland filled wiht ancient machines of war.

Another alternate idea: A wrestling ring!

All else fails, the Clocktower idea is pretty cool, too.

In the middle of an ocean, on a series of islands.

I cast my vote for the clock tower. Multiple floors, fitting scenery. Just make sure the gears are big enough to ride around.

A lake of highly corrosive, acidic water with a multiple islands and a large land mass for fighting. Toxic steam bursts through from volcanic vents throughout the large island in th center. Smog hangs over the arena. Large spikes of corrosive crystals stick out everywhere, with pools of acid here and there to keep things interesting. Basically a poison battle arena, where the wrong step could be deadly.

A field of constantly shifting sand dunes. The high ground only stays the high ground for a couple minutes at most and the sand blowing around limits visibility.

In the castle! Huzzah!

How about that technically non-existent hot spring in the basement of the castle?

803170 All of my yes.

803170

Oh the memories.....

But if we're taking that route, why not just go with Trixie's idea and head for the castle itself, specifically straight for the throne room? Malik's got a lot of practice keeping an eye on that place after all.

803367
Hmm... maybe Aurus disappeared, and Virgil goes looking for him in the throne room only to find Malik. Then they fight, then Aurus swoops in to tell Virgil all is well and that he can see his daughter again!

Unless his daughter never really was in the city.

803383
Nah, it happens the way you describe it with the fight, except that you find out that Aria is really his daughter. His wife was a changeling the whole time and he never knew it. Aurus' family found her and adopted her without telling anybody.

You're all trying way too hard to provide environments in Malik's favor, seems like. Poor Socratic.

803402
Malik is a master of stealth, deception, and speed. EVERY terrain is gonna favor him over an older earth pony.

About the only thing we could do to favor Virgil is to put the match in an open field, two inches of water on the ground, dead silence, and a thin mist hanging over everything. That would negate his stealth, but there's nothing we can realistically do about his agility.

And besides, all the cool environments are gonna favor a changeling no matter what his specialty.

803395

MIND = BLOWN

803402 What do you have against the clock? It favors everyone, if they know how to use the moving parts.

What about on a boat at sea? all that rocking back and forth...

Just throwing this out: Ponyville.

803435
I wasn't talking about the clock, I was thinking about some of the other suggestions, where a flying creature would have some pretty distinct advantages.