The Olden World

by Czar_Yoshi

Versus Wallace, Prelude

"Well then, young hero of Ironridge! Why don't you show me what you've got?"

Valey and Wallace began to circle, springy grass folding beneath her hooves. He held a respectful distance, and she didn't advance, sizing up the situation.

Her mark was tingling; Wallace was powerful. At the same time, most of her opponents held hefty grudges and had hunted her down, so her standard response of waiting to let the enemy move first and see what they were capable of wasn't working. In fact, Wallace was doing that himself, and odds were he was more patient than she.

"I'm thinking about it," Valey replied, taking a step forward and narrowing her eyes, bright sunlight shining on her face. Wallace didn't even hold a battle stance, watching and waiting for her as casually as someone might wait for a cart to pass before crossing the street. That would slow his reaction if she did something sudden, but she wasn't exactly sure what she could do: he was the same size and weight class as Herman, and didn't have a magic battle axe or a gaping chest wound for her to exploit for damage. Her hoofstrikes would probably bounce right off, even. She needed something heavier, or else momentum and knowledge.

Fwooosh! Valey snapped out her wings and shot forward, instantly halting her momentum and landing the moment her tingling increased. She saw one of Wallace's talons twitch, knowing he had been about to catch her. Not giving him a chance to react a second time, she walked calmly and readily into his range, every muscle prepared to jump or dodge out of the way.

"Hah!" Wallace looked amused, hopping back out of range with a crash. "You're scoping me out! Good! Never underestimate an opponent when you don't know what they're capable of. Now, time to test what you've learned!"

He jumped forward again, wings spread, moving through the air like an inexorable rolling boulder. Valey tensed; his trajectory was farther over her head than it appeared, trying to unnerve her into backing up so that he would land on her and crush her. It was the exact same strategy she had used to flatten Howe so very long ago in the Earth District, when she had started calling him Pancake... and now it was being flung her way, in the form of a bathtub-sized griffon who would make her a lot flatter than that. She took several steps back anyway, cutie mark confirming her hypothesis. Was he underestimating her? A move like that should have been a bluff with an early landing, but while airborne, Wallace was undefended.

Underestimated or not, Valey wasn't going to miss her chance. She zipped upward and to the side, aiming a punch for the bones of Wallace's left wing. At the last second, though, the wing lifted, and her cutie mark flared. Wallace was attacking with... his tail?

Enhanced reaction time gave Valey just enough of a boost to throw herself into a flip, vaulting over the whiplike snap of Wallace's projectile. "Gotcha!" she growled, latching onto the appendage as it flashed by and biting down hard.

"Oooh!" Wallace winced, defenses pierced, landing upright despite the setback, and the next snap of his tail would have flung Valey halfway across the field if she hadn't been forewarned to let go. "Quick thinking, young hero! You've certainly got some skill! We might have to turn things up a little..."

Wallace charged, this time not waiting for her to make her move. Barreling along the ground with his wings tucked in like a griffony train, he gave no illusions about where he was heading, and left Valey with little time to think. She crouched, preparing to jump.

...The impending danger grew less, and she hesitated. He wasn't reading a jump? Or he was expecting her to think he was, and stay put. Either way, Valey didn't want to take the risk, so she went with the last-second third option: shadow sneaking.

Without clouds to block the sun, the entire field was brightly lit, leaving almost no places to hide, but Wallace was big enough that his shadow fit nicely. Kicking off the ground once, Valey pivoted instantly in midair, slipping into the ground as the giant griffon passed. Wallace stayed grounded, and the moment his hind legs were clear, she lunged upward, prepared to catch his tail again.

Flash! Her cutie mark froze time just as she rose, letting her see him spread his wings and plant his talons for an emergency momentum brake as his hind paws lifted to lash out. A blow from either of them would end the fight right then and there, but the downside to Wallace's size was that he couldn't see behind himself and had no way of aiming.

Valey angled herself perfectly, twisting through the air so that Wallace's hind paws shot past on either side of her body, missing completely. "Raaaaaugh!" she yelled, bringing both hooves down together against his heel as it passed, trying for as awkward of an angle as possible in search of a weak spot.

Even as she hit, Wallace moved with the momentum, already bringing himself back around to stomp her. Not willing to give up her position, Valey locked her hooves where they had landed on his leg, hooking them and swinging herself around so that her hind legs both exploded into Wallace's other leg the moment he landed.

"Yeah!" she cheered, springing away with the impact and rolling to an upright stop on the grass, facing him from a safe distance away... but her hope suddenly fell when she saw that he hadn't even staggered. If anything, the big griffon looked happy.

"Fantastic!" Wallace praised, holding off on an advance in favor of talking. "Your reaction and ability to turn a tight situation into an advantage is admirable, and you know how to strike with power despite your size! Clearly, this isn't your first time fighting an opponent so vastly bigger than you. However, you have a dilemma: with only the tools you have available to you, how do you damage someone as meaty as me?"

He started forward again, and Valey was briefly taken aback by the alarming way in which he moved. Wallace's wings were extended and on the ground, acting as an extra pair of legs as he waddled forward, swaying violently from side to side and planting them like flippers. His forelegs, freed by the action, now sported balled fists the size of her head, and were swinging in a series of wild punches in time with his stride that covered her entire facing. It was madly intimidating, and Valey had to steel herself to prevent her eyes from widening.

But... there was a pattern. Every one of his blows was in time with his stride, moving like a metronome as he used the swaying of his body to balance out the awkward wing-walking. That wasn't a rhythm he'd be able to adjust in a hurry, and it left just enough of a gap between his punches that she could get in as one was ending. What would she do when she got in close? Didn't matter; she needed to move before he changed his attack.

In a streak of green, Valey shot between Wallace's swinging talons, sliding through the air with her wings upside-down and her belly to the sky, keeping careful watch as her coiled hind legs targeted his exposed neck. But a flash of slow-motion interrupted her right before she could make contact, and Wallace's huge head filled her vision, beak open to poke or bite her back. She had been watching his talons, but ignored his head! Snarling at her oversight, Valey reacted.

Crack! She brought her hind legs up as she slid, catching Wallace's beak with both hooves. The hit was against her momentum and did absolutely nothing, but combined with a flap of her wings, it sent her spinning downward, flipping and landing atop a meaty arm that was just finishing its punch. Coiling and springing again, Valey launched off it, twisting yet again in midair to avoid his grasping talons and bring her hooves down in a smash on his wing socket.

As the blow connected, Valey grabbed onto the bone of his wing, realizing the danger had lessened. Could he not reach her here? Either way, nothing was stopping her from hitting again, so she pummeled the wing's base over and over, clinging on with her hind legs as she pummeled the twisted knot of muscle with immense ferocity. "Come on!" she hissed, straining... and then the wing gave out, and Wallace tipped over.

Her cutie mark informed her that something was wrong almost as fast as her brain did, Wallace's wing folding normally to his side instead of cracking or going limp. Wrapped as she was around it, her hind leg was now pinned inside his furled wing, and he was rolling over, preparing to crush her against the ground. A split second of struggling proved useless, her leg well and truly trapped... so again Valey shadow snuck, disappearing safely into the ground as Wallace dropped on his side.

And then he didn't get up.

Contemplatively, Wallace lay there, twisting his neck around to watch beneath him. "You're clever," he praised, "and successfully saved yourself in a pinch! But now I have you at disadvantage, hero! While your reflexes and agility are commendable, three times in a row you chose to meet me head-on! You must vary your approach while searching for weaknesses, and be-"

POWWW!

Valey blasted out from under Wallace with the force of a dropped anvil, planting all four hooves against his face as she sped by with a thunderclap of clattering beak. "You were saying?" she laughed, hovering this time. "You know how shadow sneaking works, right? We can't stay submerged when there's not physically enough room in the shadow. It's why you never have batponies going through the plumbing; we get pushed out. A doorjamb's about all we can make it under, and anything more...?" She grinned. "Trying to smash me down there was basically putting me in a cannon aimed at your face!"

"I didn't know that," Wallace announced, wiggling his jaw to ensure it was still fine. "Congratulations! However, as hard as you've worked, you have yet to touch me."

"Rrrgh..." Valey growled, realizing that attack really hadn't done anything either. If that didn't even flinch him, what would?

His chest was covered in massive battle scars, and it was possible some of those could still be tender. Unfortunately, the presence of that many scars in the first place likely meant even wounds far bigger than she was capable of making couldn't stop him. And either way, he had warned her about making such bold approaches; rushing his front again wouldn't be a good way of doing things.

But what could she do? Wallace was advancing again, and she had already tried his tail, his legs, his wings, his face... She needed something truly enormous to hit him with, and she had nothing at all.

He had said she possessed tools, though. What tools? Valey set her teeth and spread her wings, a few flybys and fake-outs would only buy her time to think as long as she was careful. She buzzed past with a series of dodgy momentum shifts, prepared to come about... and the moment she turned, she saw Wallace in the sky again, chasing her.

"Oh, bananas." Valey swallowed, preparing to dart. Wallace in the sky felt even bigger, his gigantic wingspan truly showing its worth, along with no damage whatsoever from her earlier pummeling. At the same time...

The ground! That was what she could hit him with. She just had to get them high enough, then make Wallace crash, which unfortunately meant finding a way to disable his wings. And he was barreling again, clearly interested in watching her think under pressure.

Valey flipped sideways, deciding to check how fast he could change momentum midair. Predictably, the griffon's huge bulk shot past, not without a slap from a twirling wing she had to take care to dodge. Already far in the distance, she saw Wallace making a massive turnabout, having accelerated to such a speed he needed to go to the far end of the field to manage it. She didn't think even she could keep up with him, and that realization sent a shiver down her spine. Now he was the one dive-bombing her.

Dive-bombing... He was at least giving her time to think. Valey darted out of the way of his next charge, the sheer friction from his passage against the air giving her a perceptible warming sensation as he passed. Could she trick him into hitting the ground himself?

No, he'd be able to pull up. If she could get him close, though, angled sharply enough that grabbing on and attacking his wings could prevent him from lifting hard enough... That was enough of a plan. Valey flew straight up, watching as the next flyby increased in altitude to target her. One more, another... They weren't difficult to dodge, though definitely scary, Wallace moving so quickly only her cutie mark could tell her precisely where he was going to strike.

This time, Valey chased Wallace as he passed, bargaining that getting in closer would give her more control of how he approached. The speeding griffon was easily twice as fast as her top speed, and when he started making his curve, she stopped and turned as well, flying far inside his loop as well as towards him and down. Wallace started angling downward to follow her.

Valey felt her cheeks stretch in a windblown grin. Now, she flew directly away from Wallace, letting him catch up to her like a meteor of doom. She didn't look back, angling herself slowly toward the ground, the giant green field below spinning in her vision as she did a barrel roll.

Phweeeee... Wind screamed in her ears as she brought her trajectory to an angle she was happy with, nearly halfway to vertical. Wallace was still following; her cutie mark could feel him gaining. Rapidly, the ground enlarged, and her timing was perfect, the griffon on a collision course with her about ten seconds before he would hit the field. All she'd have to do was stall him for a second and he wouldn't be able to pull up in time.

Snapping her wings, Valey braked as hard as she could, flipping her light body and letting Wallace hit her at a slight angle. There was a talon grappling for her, but she avoided it with a final pump of her wings, grabbing his side instead. Let him pin her this time! Valey latched onto the side of his wing as hard as she could, slightly further down than last time, thanking the wind for blowing her tail out of his reach. The wing was too thick for her to bite, but she clung to a joint and strained with every muscle to interfere with a single flap. If he tucked the wing in to bring her closer and pick her off, that would be enough...

But he didn't, still trying to pull up. With a tinge of victory, Valey felt him wobble, realized she was having an effect and he wasn't going to make it. His trajectory was too low; he was flying nearly horizontal but far too close to the ground. Kicking off, Valey let go and angled herself into the sky, straightening out and hovering to see what the crash would do.

And then, to her shock, Wallace turned sideways, tucked in his wings, hit the ground, and rolled.

Every drop of momentum he had charged her with was now a spinning, devastating mass, rolling along the field so quickly she couldn't make out his head. Wallace crossed half the field length before she could even register what he had done, then launched himself, still rolling, into the air with the extension of a single wing. A roadlike swath of grass stretched from her to him, and at the end, Wallace stabilized in midair, shook his head, and landed, coming to a final proud standstill near Maple, Starlight and the others and not even wobbling from dizziness.

"What... how...?" Valey pointed a hoof, floating into earshot.

"What's a good hero without special attacks?" Wallace asked with a flourishing grin. "Congratulations, young Valey! I'm afraid I have to call off our sparring session here, because things have reached the point where I am holding back more for our arena's sake than yours!"

Valey flicked her ears, letting the words sink in.

"You fought admirably," Wallace praised, extending an oversized talon for her to bump. "I started easy, but your skill and proficiency at dodging my attacks was so great I was this close to showing you my ultimate move! I won't hide the truth: you have a long way to go if you aspire to become number one. While your survival was best in class, you barely landed a scratch against my superior size and defenses. In a true fight, at best we would be stalemated until you ran out of stamina, and at worst you would catch the wrong side of an attack by mistake and be truly decimated. However, with training and even more clever strategy, you just may be able to overcome these weaknesses. To the many contenders I face in the tournament, I praise their strengths and instruct them in where to focus their improvement next, but it is rare that I get to say these words: if your convictions are true and your persistence relentless, you might truly stand a chance."

Finally, Valey landed, only then realizing how hard her lungs were breathing.

"That was quite spectacular," Gerardo praised, bowing to both in respect. "I both regret having watched from afar and am very glad I came no closer."

"And neither of you are hurt," Slipstream marveled. "Wow."

Wallace winked. "I may have gotten kicked in the face a time or two, but it was all in the line of duty! And you are all right as well, my worthy opponent?"

"Yeah," Valey panted, throat suddenly dry as her state caught up to her. "Bananas, I haven't gotten ran around that hard in forever, not counting that cheating stuff in Stormhoof. We should do that again some time."

"I think much the same!" Wallace agreed, booming. "Morena and Diego will likely want to try their luck against you as well. I have a suspicion you might even be evenly matched! But in the meantime... dinner is on me tonight! Come, let us feast to the heroic deeds of ourselves and others!"

With a mood of good cheer emanating from all her friends, Valey settled down on well-stretched legs and followed along, licking her lips.

Comments

[alamais]

*meaty*

[Quinch]

9139895
Gotta love that self-aware chonk.

[Alchemik]

Dang. No wonder Wallace has the reputation he does. He's a high-level adventurer!

[Venlinelle]

That was really fun! Wallace’s commentary gimmick is incredibly entertaining, and it was cool seeing a lower stakes fight.

[sploopy slooder]

i mean i feel like no matter what you do its gonna be borderline impossible to outpunch someone 4 times your size. weight classes exist for a reason. give valey a knife tho.....then she becomes SCARY.