744821
Snowfall watches the changeling enter the arena across from her. Though she had never seen Rapid Fire without her disguise before, she could tell immediately who it was. The faintly glowing flower behind one ear and the signature gloves on her front hooves gave it away. She smiled widely as her opponent walked closer before speaking, asking if she was sure about going through with this right now.

Snowfall just smirks as she picks up her helmet. "Don't you worry about that. You've gotta figure out how to hurt me before that'll matter," she replies with a chuckle as she deftly flips her heavily plated helm up onto her head. "Besides, even if you do figure it out, I've no doubt that Red Cross can fix me up before I have to fight Ferris. For all his twisted tendencies, he's one of the best doctors I've ever seen."

She pauses momentarily as Rapid loosens up, before moving forward, slowly at first but quickly gathering speed. As she approaches the other mare, she sweeps her shield across in a wide backhoof aimed at Rapid's chest and left shoulder.

744830
(Will -> B, Str -> A)
Rapid stays stretching as her opponent barrels forward, slowly figuring the distance with a smile for a fair fight. Just as Snowfall is about to hit, Rapid pulls herself to her left, staying on her rear hooves and letting the shield skim just past the buttons on her uniform. "Glad you've got one on staff. I promise nothing I do will be permanent, mostly stunning. Only so much you can do with bare hooves."

She spins with her dodge, eyes glowing slightly as she quickly brings her right hoof around at her opponent's head in a matching backhoof. She watched the previous two fights, knows how all of Snowfall's opponents seemed to aim for the eyes... She's not nearly that underhooved. If it can't be won with a fair fight and brawn, like her last match proved, she really didn't have the mind for tricks. But this fight, this was going to be a treat.

744840
As Snowfall sees Rapid dodge the attack and begin her spin, she begins preparing her dodge. As Rapid's hoof comes around, Snowfall ducks under it as she lowers her center of gravity and plants her right forehoof on the ground and stopping her momentum, her muscles straining against the force and the weight.

As Rapid's hoof passes over her head, she kicks off with her right rear hoof, spinning her body to the right and bringing her shield across in a low left hook.

744853
(Will -> C, Agi -> S)
As Snowfall comes to a halt, Rapid plants the hoof she swung with down on Snowfall's helmet, eyes glowing slightly brighter as she kicks up with her rear legs, cartwheeling over Snowfall's armored form. As her hooves touch ground on the other side, she spins again, this time bringing another backhoof blow towards the shoulder joint of Snowfall's armor, hoping to bend, dent, or at least rattle it a little and maybe ruin some range of motion on that shield.

744861
Snowfall sees Rapid somersault over her attack, and continue over her entire body. She was not amused. Though she wasn't sure what kind of attack Rapid would counter with, she could take a solid guess at where it would come from. Trusting her armor to absorb the impact of whatever Rapid had planned, she braced her forehooves and kicked out hard behind her with her rear right hoof, hoping for a lucky hit.

As she made her attack, she felt a sudden impact on her left shoulder, the sound of metal on metal ringing across the arena when the peacemaker impacted just behind her left shoulder pauldron. Thankfully, the heavy plating and the reinforcements added there to support the shield negated much of the blow, but Rapid's strength still made it a jarring hit.

744879
(Will -> D, Str -> S)
Rapid frowns as the impact does nothing. Really, she wasn't expecting much, but she'd been hoping for something. Her eyes glow slightly brighter as she bounces off of the strike against Snowfall's shoulder, spinning to her left and aiming her right forehoof for the flat of Snowfall's armored flank, putting all the force she could behind it. As the Peacemaker travels, sparks arc over its surface as it eagerly clambers for a shocking introduction to its target.

744885
Feeling her wild attack miss completely, Snowfall knew she was in a bad position. She pushed off hard with her rear left hoof, launching herself forward and away from whatever it was that Rapid had planned. Had she been looking behind her, she would have seen Rapid's hoof pass through where she used to be standing.

As her short jump ends, she spins around to face Rapid, bringing her shield up in front of her defensively.

744898
Rapid just smirks. "Huh... so you can move in all that armor. I was wondering." She crouches into an aggressive pose, all four hooves on the ground for the first time this match. "Let's get started, shall we?" She charges the short gap between the two of them, bringing up her right hoof in another powerful blow, this aimed straight at her opponent's shield, sparks flying from her Peacemaker once more.

The shield was a wall, and there were only two options with walls: find a door, or make one. With all her strength behind the blow, she was aiming to make one.

744902
Snowfall sees the attack coming and prepares herself. This was going to hurt.

As the attack came in, she shifted her weight to her right hooves and took a single forceful step forward, bringing her shield across to deflect the attack wide. As the shield made contact with the glove, arcs of electricity jolted across her armor, jumping and writhing across its metal surface.

But Snowfall had been expecting the pain; she was ready for it. As the glove slid across the surface of the shield, Snowfall used the momentum of her step forward to drive the shield forward along Rapid's extended limb, straight at her right shoulder

744910
Rapid was disappointed when the shot failed to connect, but was far more disappointed as the shield rushed to meet her shoulder. However, she lets it happen, shifting once it roughly meets her shoulder to slide along the lower edge as she moves her body in and behind the shield. She closes the final gap in a flash, dragging her right forehoof down the shield to catch on the underside, using her strength to twist the bottom of the shield, and the arm attached to it, in awkwardly while simultaneously bringing her left forehoof, sparks trailing from it, straight for Snowfall's chest. As she did, she looks straight into Snowfall's eyes, hers showing respect and, for the first time in any ring of the tournament, a real joy at the battle.

This is what she'd been waiting for. This could make it all worth it.

744916
Snowfall watches Rapid dodge most of the hit from her shield as she slides under it, bringing her other peacemaker up for a hit as she twists the shield at an awkward angle. Celestia's tits....I knew those gloves of hers were gonna be annoying, but this is ridiculous.

Rather than dodge the blow coming for her chest, Snowfall continues moving quickly forward, intentionally running into the attack in order to wrap her right foreleg around Rapid as she forces her left foreleg farther behind her. Even though Rapid was holding her shield, Snowfall had the better angle for leverage, giving her the edge she needed to overpower her opponent.

Before she can complete the grapple though, she feels the powerful impact of the changeling's hoof on the chestplate of her armor and another surge of electricity arc across her body, lighting up the arena with its flickering glow. It wouldn't do anything to stop her attack, but that didn't keep it from hurting a lot.

744934
Rapid feels Snowfall closing in around her and, instead of fighting the attack, lifts her rear hooves from the ground, letting Snowfall's charge and both Snowfall's and her own forehoof push her towards the approaching shield. At the last moment Rapid pulls up hard with her right hoof at the bottom of the shield, twisting it further and creating a mostly flat surface that she slides from Snowfall's grip on. She stumbles on the far side, dazed from the connection of both Snowfall's chest plate and her right forehoof nearly crushing her against the shield, but she stands up on her feet, a wild smile on her face as she looks at her opponent. "We can hug it out when the match is over. Right now, it's time to dance." She takes a few steps backwards and lands in a defensive pose, her grin not fading, her excitement not ebbing in the least.

744939
Snowfall shifts her body a bit, stretching her strained muscles from the repeated shocks by the peacemakers. She looks over to Rapid, chuckling slightly as she responds, "you should go ask Candy how she feels about my hugs. I find them to be perfect for the battlefield."

She raised her shield and begins walking slowly towards rapid. "I've never been very good at dancing though, so I'll leave that to you."

With her final word, she rushes forward, her shield in front of her as though for a shield bash. At the last second however, she drops her shield and brings her right forehoof up in a straight punch from behind it as her left forehoof sets itself on the ground for the final step forward.

746065
Rapid just grins at the oncoming rumble of metal, bracing for impact from the shield. "I saw that. Little mercenary, not gonna lie. I normally go for a sleeper hold myself, not a spine snap. You can't get any info out of them if they're dead." However, as the shield drops and the hoof comes forward, Rapid catches the punch in her right forehoof, the hit stinging even through the Peacemaker and causing her rear hooves to slide back as Snowfall pushes forward. "Of course, I can't dance alone. It takes two to tango." Lightning arcs over the hoof holding her opponent's, while her other forehoof smashes down on the shield, trying to force the edge of it to dig into the dirt.

746082
Once again Snowfall feels the sting of electricity arcing across her armor, but she doesn't let go, holding Rapid's hoof tight. As her other hoof smashes down on the top of her shield, trying to drive it into the ground, Snowfall bends her knee slightly, as the blow connects, straining to counter the force of the punch and letting her joint bend under the force rather than risk losing her shield.

Even with her strength, it still staggers her slightly to the left, her grip on Rapid's other hoof unbroken. As she recovers from the stagger, she uses her now crouched position to her advantage, pulling Rapid towards her with her right hoof, and pushing herself forwards with the other three to deliver a headbutt to Rapid's chin.

746105
As Snowfall gives a heavy pull on Rapid's hoof, hard enough to send her flying, Rapid uses the speed, kicking up with her rear hooves, bringing her face up and over Snowfall's incoming headbutt. Though her forehead does connect with Snowfall's helmet, it is a glancing blow that smarts a bit, but isn't too bad.

As she travels upwards, Rapid grabs onto Snowfall's hoof, pulling it up with her and trying to leave her opponent on three as she once more does a hoof stand on Snowfall's armor, sending a shock through her left forehoof, which was planted firmly between Snowfall's shoulder blades.

746116
As the now familiar sensation of electricity arcing across her armor once again graces Snowfall's senses, she grits her teeth through the pain as she brings her left foreleg, the one still holding tight to Rapid's hoof, down and across in a powerful horizontal swing, hurling the changeling away from her and towards the large pile of rubble. She knew it wouldn't do much, but she wouldn't risk using a more brutal attack, at least, not while Rapid was pregnant. And since those gloves of hers would have to recharge at some point, Snowfall knew there would be time to make up for lost ground soon.....hopefully.

As Rapid was released to begin her tumble through the air, Snowfall wasted no time in charging after her, shield raised, giving her opponent no time to rest after the throw.

775325
Rapid thumps against Snowfall's armor as she is thrown, causing her to be slightly dazed as she spirals through the air. However, like a cat, she still manages to land lightly on all four hooves. Sliding slightly on the landing, she sees Snowfall coming, and Rapid's smile grows. She is having a blast, but she still has one test she wants to try. She springs forward immediately, the newest charge in her gauntlet sparking brightly as she aims to meet Snowfall's charge head-on, her strength against her opponent's as her punch aims for flat center against the shield. Let's see just how much these gloves can withstand.

775329
As Rapid recovers mid throw, landing lightly on her hooves, Snowfall smirks a bit. This is just as much fun as my fight with Candy. Probably more so since it doesn't involve spikes in my eyes, she thinks to herself with amusement. Before she has time to put any more thought into it, however, Rapid immediately begins charging back, sparks leaping from her raised gauntlet.

Snowfall knew that if she tried to dodge or deflect the attack, she'd still take the shock and Rapid would get away clean, so she instead braced her shield and continued her charge. Just before the two fighters impacted, Snowfall lowered her head, bracing the shield against her forehead to use her whole body to counter her opponents strength rather than just her one arm.

The initial contact sent the expected jolt of electricity arcing through her body, but only slowing her momentum slightly as she absorbed the powerful impact of the hit with a pained grunt, continuing forward to steamroll her opponent.

775337
Rapid's hoof impacts hard, sending a jarring jolt down her arm as she braces against Snowfall's continued charge, letting her hooves slide instead of brace fully so that she moves with the momentum instead of being bowled over.

However, the jolt from the hit is nothing compared to the jolt from her glove, the main plate of which shatters from the impact with the horrible sound of rending metal and snapping crystal. What little charge remained after the shock exploded out, arcing both over Snowfall's shield and Rapid's hoof, causing her to grit her teeth to keep everything up. She pushes against the shield with her front hoof, leaping up once more to roll over her opponent. She feels her glove stick a little bit, like a combination of an adhesive and an electromagnet, but is able to continue her roll.

Which would have been cleanly executed were it not for the shock, half as strong as the explosion, that runs through her arm. The lightning bolt throws off Rapid's concentration, causing her to topple off of Snowfall's back, landing on her rear hooves while she quickly removes the broken glove from her forehoof, bracing herself for a counter attack from Snowfall. Shoot! I knew it was going to break, but I didn't expect like that. Although... She watches the spark build up in the first crystal before shorting, this time sparking onto the glove safely, and smiles mischievously. I think I can use this to my advantage.

775340
As the initial shock of the peacemaker runs through her, Snowfall hears a sound like rending metal before her shield shudders and another, smaller arc of lighting runs through her body. She feels Rapid once again vault over her, but this time the double shock of the lightning and the sudden loss of resistance against her shield makes her stumble. She catches herself before she falls forward, but the chance for a counter is lost.

She turns to face Rapid, her muscles twitching as the last of the electricity sparks across her armor and a few small wisps of smoke rise from between the plates. She looks over and sees Rapid eyeing her destroyed glove, little sparks still dancing across it's cracked surface. "Well, at least I got something out of it aside from another shock and the smell of burnt fur," she says with a chuckle, dropping back into a defensive stance and waiting to see what Rapid would do.

775344
Rapid smiles, hefting the broken glove for Snowfall to see. "Yeah. I was wondering what it took to break one of these. Turns out, the force of you and your million pounds of armor crashing at full strength. They actually built it pretty strong, but... I think I can do better with a little time and the right pony on the case." Seeing Snowfall drop back on the defensive, Rapid smiles, taking a moment to look for the best method of attack. It takes just enough time for her to watch another spark form and dissipate, then she's off at full speed once more, running towards Snowfall from Snow's right.

This did two things: put her intact Peacemaker on the stronger side for a swing, and put Snowfall's shield as far away as possible. However, the plan had nothing to do with an attack. As soon as she gets near, Rapid vaults once more, doing an armless cartwheel over the armored pony diagonally and slamming the broken glove down in the center of Snowfall's back in as difficult a place to reach as she could think of. As she continues, she's satisfied to feel the glove stick firmly, the magnetism from the broken wiring and the adhesive freed by the explosion holding it in place just as the charge ticks up, dissipating immediately into the armor.

Smiling, Rapid lands behind her opponent, ready to wear down the tank before her, bit by bit.

775349
Snowfall watched Rapid charge in, towards her right side. Before she has a chance to react though, her opponent had already once again vaulted into the air, flipping over her and landing on her left side. As Rapid had passed over though, Snowfall felt something impact on her back and a small jolt of electricity ran through her. It was nowhere near as strong as the others, but this one wasn't stopping. That could be a problem.......

As the changeling touched down on her left, Snowfall rolled to her right, hoping to dislodge whatever the buck Rapid had put on her. She rose as swiftly as possible back to her hooves and turned to face her opponent, she felt the tingling spark of electricity now coming from somewhere low on her left side. Giving a quick glance down, she saw the sparking remains of Rapid's broken glove now stuck to her armor, the roll having slid it across the plates to its current position. Not looking away from the changeling, she reached over with her right forehoof to pull it off, tensed to react to whatever Rapid may have planned next.

775358
(Stat change: Agi ->A, Will ->C)
Rapid follows Snowfall as she rolls, giving a little hop to add to her momentum before pivoting on her right rear hoof, bringing her left down towards Snowfall's neck in a strong hammer kick. She hopes to distract Snowfall enough to stop her from removing the glove, considering she is attacking from Snowfall's right side, but either way she had to keep up on the assault. She could smell the burnt fur, already able to tell that there would be damage and hoping her magic could heal it, but with that smell came a sign. Snowfall, despite her strong front, was on the ropes. She couldn't let her rest now.

She feels her magic reserve draining within her, unable to keep up the reflexes and the strength in her muscles, but the slight shadow of doubt disappears with the ready light on her still-working glove, signalling a new charge ready.

775361
As Rapid moves quickly to Snowfall's right side, bringing her left hoof down in a powerful kick, Snowfall strains her three legs still on the ground bracing for the impact. She shifts her weight forward just enough for the kick to land across her shoulders, instead of on her neck, as she brings her right hoof out from under her, now holding the sparking glove, in a kick at Rapid's right rear knee.

775364
Rapid takes the hit loosely, letting it propel her leg up, spinning her back around to place her hooves back on solid ground. As she spins, she brings up her left forehoof, aiming for the hoof holding the sparking glove. She hopes to slam it back into Snowfall's chest and stick it there, but even if she misses the hoof, her hoof in on a collision course for the armored pony, sparks flying from it as the Peacemaker releases it's newest charge.

775369
As Rapid rolls with the kick, bringing her working peacemaker back around for another punch. As it came around, Snowfall dropped the damaged glove and met Rapid's hoof with her own, grabbing onto the gauntlet even as it once again sent its charge through her battered body. This time the wisps of smoke coming from her armor were much more noticeable, the last sparks of the attack lingering longer.

As their hooves connected, Snowfall turned the momentum of the punch, driving both of their hooves down to the ground and hopefully keeping Rapid pinned in place as she brought her left across in a hook aimed at her head, the edge of the shield leading.

775398
Unable to match Snowfall's natural strength to pull herself free with just that hoof, Rapid ducks closer to Snowfall, taking the shield bash on the shoulder and feeling the impact resonate through her body. She grabs onto the shield with her own hoof once it hits, barely pulling herself back from between the shield and the armor before shoving as hard as she can against the flat of the shield, trying to ring Snowfall's shield hoof against her armor and stumble the mare long enough to free her other hoof.

775410
Snowfall strains her left foreleg to prevent herself from being hit with her own shield, and instead lets the herself be pushed back, releasing Rapid's other hoof in order to keep her balance. As soon as she had recovered her footing, she immediately wrenched her shield back in between herself and Rapid, jumping forward to deliver a shield bash.

775427
As soon as her hoof is free, Rapid ducks down and towards it, slipping underneath Snowfall's shield bash and bringing herself between the shield and the armored pony, shoving the shield out with her forehoof and bringing her forehead smashing into Snowfall's helmet while her left rear knee aims for Snowfall's armored side.

775437
Under normal circumstances, such an attack would have been nothing for a mare like Snowfall. Under normal circumstances, she would just shrug it off and use her position to crush her opponent. Under normal circumstances, an attack of this caliber wouldn't stand a chance of phasing her.

But these were not normal circumstances.

As Rapid's head crashed against her plated helm, Snowfall prepared as best she could to absorb the blow, though it still left her ears ringing. But she wasn't out just yet, and despite her weakened condition, her years of training took over, moving her body automatically. She stuck out her right forehoof to catch the knee that was heading for her side as she tightened her grip with her shielded foreleg, hoping to pull Rapid into a tight grapple as she lashed out with a headbutt of her own.

775446
Rapid takes the blow and reels, using it to wind back as she strains against the shield, barely able to keep herself from getting crushed. That is more to save her foal any discomfort than to save herself, however, as her plan didn't need the freedom to move.

Blood trickles down her forehead as she brings her head whipping forward once more, aiming right for the blood spot she'd left on Snowfall's helmet last time. She can feel the final struggles of her opponent, the instincts and desperation kicking in, and she wants to end it. She just wishes it was in a way more fitting a commander and less fitting a reveler at a bar. Still, she smiles the whole time, letting her eyes gleam with the appreciation for this amazing fight.

775454
As Rapid's head came forward yet again, crashing against Snowfall's own, the darkly armored mare reeled back, releasing Rapid from her grip as she staggered back a few steps. She shook her head a couple times to try and clear it, but it wasn't working. No matter what she did, everything kept spinning, forcing her to keep swaying to stay upright.

She reached up with her right forehoof, pawing at her helm a couple times to try to get a grip on it and pull it off. After several attempts she finally managed to get a hold of it and drop it to the ground at her hooves with a metallic thud. A few more wisps of smoke drifted out of her armor and a couple charred patches were visible in her mane and fur as she looked at Rapid with slightly unfocused eyes.

"Yep..... definitely picked the right pony for the job.......

"but don't think this is over just yet........next time I won't have.......any reason........to pull my punches........so you'd better be ready for it," she said as her trademark smirk grew across her muzzle just before she lost the battle with gravity. With a final shudder, she tipped to her right and collapsed to the ground with a massive clatter, already unconscious before she landed next to her fallen helm.

775470
Rapid watches Snowfall fall to the ground, shaking her own head to clear it even as the magic begins to seep through her chitin, fixing up bruises and patches, starting with the blood trickling down her forehead. She smirks, walking over and, with the last bit of magic her body wasn't reserving for itself, places her hooves against Snowfall's chest, letting the extra magic seep in and begin the healing process. Rapid lets her magic drain completely, until she is so spent that her vision is spinning slightly.

She stays leaned down as Snowfall slowly regains consciousness, a large fanged smile greeting the awakening mare. "Next time you better be ready. I'm bringing whatever my crew gives me, and I'm giving it my all." She then stands, offering a hoof to help the mare up and out of the arena. "Then again, one on one really isn't your style, is it? Gotta say, I'd much prefer to fight beside you than opposed."

775474
Snowfall lets out an involuntary gasp as Rapid's magic courses through her, waking her from her unconscious state. After a few blinks to remind her still weakened mind what had just happened, she accepted Rapid's hoof and rose with a tired groan. "I'll agree with that sentiment," she chuckled slightly at Rapid's final comment.

As the two tired mares began walking towards the exit and back to the castle, Snowfall smirked a bit as a thought crossed her mind. "Maybe next time I'll use my power maul. It's too heavy to drag out to the frontier, and it got turned down when I tried to bring it here for the arena, but you'd probably have fun with it in a sparring match. You'd better have your techies build you something good, cause you're gonna need it."

775490
"Yeah, and maybe I'll see if I can get my team to make that tesla cannon not explode every other time it's fired. I really loved that thing..." She then smirks at her friend. "Just so long as we remember the reason. This isn't an arms race, this is friendly sparring at the best of our abilities. The resulting weaponry will just be a boost to our fellow guards and a boon to the ponies we protect. Agreed?"

With weary steps the two head out of the arena, better friends and comrades than they were when they entered. It was going to be a beautiful partnership.

775500 ((Why does no one capitalize "Tesla"?

IT'S A PROPER FRIGGIN' NOUN, PEOPLE))

804577 ((it took you a WEEK to notice, and you make a huge deal out of nothing... two marks against for poor showing, though one for being technically correct. I just don't like using it as a name when using it as a descriptor for 'electric'))

805024 ((I have no idea what you just said.

And I've actually mentioned it before, so HA.))