911 - Tough Enough
“COME ON!” bellowed the earth stallion who’d called himself Burly Brawl, strolling into the village like he owned the place. “THERE’S A TITAN HERE SOMEWHERE! LET’S SEE WHAT HE’S MADE OF!”
“You’re mistaken.”
Solvei’s eyes almost bugged out of her head as Yotimo strode forward, Bloodletter held out in front of him in a guard position. What is he doing?! That pony looks bigger than Nangiannatuk!
The head warrior of their village was, Solvei knew, a powerful fighter. Despite his age, he still trained alongside his younger charges without any signs of infirmity, and had a body that plenty of girls her age still cast admiring looks at. His armor was expertly made, his experience made him clever as well as crafty, and most notable of all was that he had Bloodletter, the magical spear that her grandmother had worked for years to enchant; even Solvei herself had helped inscribe the runes.
But none of that had been enough to save Yotimo from Sissel and her collection of monsters, and for some reason Solve couldn’t make herself believe that Burly Brawl was any less dangerous. Not when he’d come here looking to deliberately pick a fight with a titan.
And yet, although he had to know all that, Yotimo still stepped forward without hesitation, his expression firm and unwavering. “There’s no titan in this village. You’ll need to look elsewhere.”
Burly looked down at the old warrior and snorted, his lip curling. “Listen, pipsqueak, I’m bored, I’m sober, and I’m ticked at how all those monsters in that big forest south of here were a bunch of pushovers. So either go get me that titan, or I fold your wrinkly old ass in half.”
Elder Sister, came Mei Li’s voice in Solvei’s mind a moment later. Is this individual an associate of our husband?
The sudden telepathic contact was enough to snap Solvei out of her shock, and she shook her head. I’ve never seen him before, and no one’s ever mentioned a pony by the name of Burly Brawl that I’ve ever heard!
She was already taking action as she spoke, calling upon her powers as she remembered what her grandmother had told her to do. An instant later, ten ice spirits – each of them shaped like a humongous adlet – appeared alongside the younger warriors, standing at the ready. The adlets themselves, having seen Solvei demonstrate her powers several times over the last few days, didn’t flinch at the reinforcements. If anything, they looked reassured, poised to charge if Yotimo couldn’t talk their uninvited guest down.
Burly just glanced at the elementals and snorted. “You gotta be kidding me. A bunch of walking icicles? That’s the best you guys can do?”
Yotimo didn’t take his eyes off of the massive stallion. “There is no titan-”
“Stuff it, old timer!” snapped Burly. “Got me a tip from Grimmy himself that a titan just had a showdown with a demigod up here, and I know he wasn’t lyin’, since he knows that if he gave me the runaround, I’m gonna tear all those monster bits off of him. So I know there’s a titan here somewhere. ‘Specially since everyone in Viljatown was actin’ like they thought the griffon’s were invadin’ right before that, with how the wuss mages were crappin’ their robes and those pansy-ass Seekers were callin’ in all their recruits, all while the temples were tryin’ real hard to say that everything was just dandy.”
He stomped a hoof then, as though speaking so many words at once had ticked him off, and Solvei didn’t miss how the ground seemed to shake, his hoof sinking several inches into the earth. “Now, last chance!” he huffed, looming over Yotimo, his expression darkening. “Bring him out or I take you out!”
Yotimo’s stance firmed up, and the runes on Bloodletter began to glow as he gripped it tighter. “I’ll tell you one more time-”
“You want to fight the titan? You’ll have to go through me first!”
Despite his years of experience, Yotimo took his eyes off of Burly, turning to give a horrified look at the one who’d spoken. “Akna!”
He wasn’t the only one staring at her, as the village warriors, all of the other adlets peering out from their houses, and Nenet and Mei Li were all watching her, wide-eyed, as she strode forward. Only Yura wasn’t glaring at her, eyes closed in concentration as she continued to try and commune with the spirits. But the way the elder shaman was gritting her teeth made it very clear what she thought about her granddaughter’s declaration.
Solvei ignored them all. Before she’d crossed halfway to where Burly and Yotimo were, her eyes began to glow, black crystals forming into body armor that covered her from head to toe even as she grew in height, her size doubling in an instant.
Planting herself directly across from Burly, she clenched her fists, letting her ice-weapons form in her hands; the oversized dagger in her left and the handle to the massive curved blade attached to the underside of her vambrace in her right. Glaring down at the muscular stallion – pleased that she was taller than him now – she bared her teeth in a snarl, the inside of her jaws glowing bright blue with the promise of supernatural cold.
“You want to mix it up with someone who slew a demigod? Show me that you’ve got what it takes.”
Burly didn’t reply immediately, instead taking a moment to look her over. Then he leaned his head back and roared with laughter. “Now that’s more like it! Gotta say though, pretty unusual to see a chick whose got more of a sack than any of the guys around her, toots.” His grin changed into a leer then. “How’s about I peel your armor off and remind you that you’re a bitch?”
“Akna! Stand down!” Yotimo’s command was hissed through gritted teeth, clearly alarmed at what she was doing.
Nor was she the only one. Elder Sister, you don’t need-
Yes, I do! she shot back, readying her magic. Nenet’s strongest against magical enemies, but this guy looks like a brawler! And you haven’t figured out how to use the rest of your tails yet! And even if this guy’s underestimating what Lex can do, look at him! There’s no way Yotimo and the others can take him! It has to be me!
But-
Mei Li, please, I need to do this! Even as she thought the words, Solvei could feel herself tensing up, feelings that she’d been trying to bury suddenly erupting. I wasn’t there when Yotimo and the others were captured! I couldn’t do anything when Lex fought Hvitdod! I was sent away before he fought Kryonex because he knew I’d be worse than useless!
Your magic helped him then, the kumiho reminded her.
My magic might have, but I didn’t! Not like you and Nenet! This time-
With a sudden chill, a serac formed under Yotimo and Burly both, causing the two to yelp as they sped off in opposite directions; Yotimo back toward where his warriors were gathered near the center of the village, and Burly back toward the edge of it.
A third formed under her feet, sending her speeding after the brawny stallion.
-I’m going to do my part!
“AKNA!” Behind her, she heard Yotimo swear angrily, before his voice rang out again. “Let’s go! We’ll help her-, huh?!”
Those elementals I summoned will keep everyone away from the fighting, continued Solvei. They won’t last very long, so if I can’t end this quick, it’ll be up to you and Nenet to watch over the village for me.
I...understand, came Mei Li’s reply, her mental voice thick with worry. Please, be careful! I’m sure our husband will return soon and deal with this ruffian!
I know he will. And I’ll have this wrapped up before he does!
Bu despite her confident reply, Solvei wasn’t at all sure that what was happening now would reach Lex’s attention. As far as she knew, his closing their connection only shut off telepathic communication; they should still be able to sense each other’s location and overall health. But now that he was on another plane of existence, more distant than ever, she couldn’t really tell anything about where he was, except that he wasn’t on the same world as her. Presumably it was the same for him as well.
If their ability to sense each other’s injuries was similarly dampened, then even if the fight she was about to have went badly, Lex wouldn’t necessarily know.
And I wouldn’t know if something’s happened to him...
Pushing that thought out of her mind, Solvei forced herself to focus. Burly was likely to recover at any moment-
Managing to sit up from where he was sprawled out on the serac, Burly brought his hoof down onto the mobile platform of ice.
It wasn’t a very hard strike; more like a pat than a punch. But the serac immediately shattered into pieces, practically exploding as it was reduced to shards. Its destruction sent Burly tumbling, rolling across the ground to strike a nearby tree, which was immediately felled as the oversized stallion collided with it. As did the next three trees after that.
But when he finally came to a stop a few heartbeats later, he had no bruises or splinters to show for the impacts. “Heh, cute trick. But I didn’t come here for ice-skating.”
Solvei came to a stop a stone’s throw away from him, giving a quick glance backward. They weren’t quite out of sight of the village, but they were far enough away that they should be able to fight without anyone else being in danger.
Burly didn’t seem to care either way, sauntering toward her with his leer still in place. “So, you that titan’s piece? Or is it the pussycat or the vixen that were hidin’ behind you? Just wanna know for when we’re done here, since any bitch takin’ it from a titan is one I can really go to town on-”
“Not if I cut you down to size!”
Solvei’s serac rocketed forward as she roared, bringing her blades around as she closed the gap between herself and Burly in an instant. She knew that Lex didn’t approve of killing ponies, but with the disgusting comments Burly was hurling at her, she decided that Lex wouldn’t mind if she left him more dead than alive. Besides, she decided, Lex can always heal him later.
Having decided on her plan of attack, Solvei made her move.
She’d sent her serac hurling right at Burly, letting him think that she was so incensed at his filthy comments that she was making a headlong rush as she crouched down, swords at the ready.
But just before the tip of her largest blade was within reach of him, she leaped.
The serac hurtled directly into Burly’s legs even as she turned upside down at the apex of her jump, striking downward with her swords. The larger of the two blades reached directly toward his face in an obvious, attention-grabbing slash. At the same moment, she flung her smaller sword – knowing that she’d be able to make another one at will – directly inside his leftmost shoulder-blade.
It was a double feint, with the serac intended to make her enemy stumble – even if he could hit several trees without flinching, he’d still instinctively try to avoid being tripped up – and the attack at his face meant to draw his attention, with her real target being his mobility. Given how bulky he was, Burly’s weakness had to be his maneuverability; an injury to his shoulder would slow him down all the more -
That was when the serac she’d sent at Burly’s legs shattered, breaking into nothing without Burly so much as noticing.
A moment later her blades did the same, their magically-reinforced edges cracking and breaking into pieces as they hit the stallion’s skin.
It was enough to leave Solvei gaping, barely registering the knowing smirk on the stallion’s face as she landed behind him, only just managing to come down on her feet. Without looking behind herself, she immediately dove forward, putting space between herself and the unnaturally-tough stallion as she reevaluated her battle plan. Spinning back around so that she was facing him, Solvei concentrated on reforming her weapons-
Only to find that Burly was already right in front of her, having moved impossibly fast.
“Sorry toots.”
His hoof shot out, striking her armor dead-center.
From Solvei’s perspective, he didn’t try to put any power into the strike. He wasn’t charging forward, having been at a complete standstill, nor did he rotate to throw his massive bulk behind the blow. He simply threw a light jab.
The force of it almost killed her.
Dimly registering that her armor had been completely annihilated – breaking into pebble-sized chunks as it collapsed – she went flying backward, coughing up blood even before she hit the ground, rolling bonelessly for what had to be the length of a spear’s throw before managing to come to a halt. Even then, she couldn’t seem to bring herself to move, feeling as though every bone in her body had just been broken.
A-aristeia! she gasped inwardly, recalling her fight with Sissel. This...has to be...aristeia!
Clucking his tongue, Burly sighed. “Disappointing,” he muttered, looking genuinely disheartened. “I was hoping to have some real fun for a change.”
Shrugging, he sauntered toward Solvei, one hoof reaching back to start undoing his belt.
“Guess the usual kind will have to do...”
Stats
Page generated in 0.093 seconds
Total duration
610 users online
935,135 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Okay, I know Burly was plenty strong after what he did to Applejack but dang, he must have held back quite a lot if he could take down Akna so quickly though here's hoping that Akna can recover or that Mei Li and Nenet can intervene and stop Burly though given his incredible display of power...I worry that it might not be enough. Still, here's hoping they'll figure something out cause Lex is rather preoccupied at the moment and will probably feel worse for another mistake he made when he comes back, the severity of which depends on when he returns.
Still, I am curious at how Burly is so strong, either it was attained through his own efforts as he'll undoubtedly proclaim to others or if he has some assistance from some benefactor, like this Grimmy he mentioned...
Looks like Burley is going for the Darwin Award.
I wonder which is stronger. Aristea or Planar portal collapse?
11813433 Given that Burly seems to be disappointed that he hasn't found someone who can actually injure him, I suspect that he'd have little respect for putting "staying alive" as the highest priority.
Of course, he doesn't seem to have much respect for anything else, either.
11813258 Burly did indeed seem to be holding back the majority of his strength in the flashbacks that we saw him in before (way back in Chapter 438). Still, to shrug off everything Solvei threw at him (notwithstanding being moved outside of the village), and then deliver so much damage in a single hit can only be called astonishing. And somewhat tragic, given how badly she wants to make a difference, here.
As for how Burly got so strong, well, that's currently unknown, but there's doubtlessly a story there. As for the "Grimmy" he mentioned, I'll give a bit of a hint in that regard: he's a character who was very briefly name-dropped back in Chapter 754.
Needless to say, I have a tendency to lay down plot-seeds well in advance.
11813876
Ah, I now wonder if Grim is aware of Lex's status as the wielder of the Charismata which would also partially explain why they might have pointed Burly Brawl towards the adlet's settlement. Or if they were unaware and Burly simply went looking for a fight with Lex just because he wanted to literally brawl with someone strong and a titan just happened to fit the bill and asked Grim for directions.
Speaking of the Charismata, I wonder how the wielders of the other two powers are dealing with the Night Mare's absence. The power struggle between them will likely escalate unless one of the pony gods intervenes...or opt to profit from it.