Lairs & Lycanthropy: Revival

by NeoNagasaki

Queen's Gambit

The cyan pony blinked a few times, staggering backwards and causing Rarity to wince inwardly. Of course this was hard on her friend; it was a difficult thing for her to swallow too, though she was pleased it didn’t devolve into mindless violence. She watched apologetically as her friend stumbled forward like a marionette piloted by a child. Rarity waited for a few awkward moments as the mare blinked rapidly at her, rubbing her eyes with a foreleg. “No…” Rainbow muttered once as Rarity looked away, not quite bringing herself to look her friend in the eye, Rainbow Dash had always been the odd one out, but here she seemed to fit right in. The great irony, Rarity realized, was that since she came to the new world Rarity had failed to fit in because of what others saw as her failings. Rainbow, on the other hoof, managed to fit in specifically because of what Rarity saw as flaws. Rainbow had managed to establish status - granted it was status with stinking barbarians that lived in the woods, but status nonetheless.

The wind blew once and picked Rarity’s purple mane up, blowing it to the side. A dainty hoof was raised to move it back out of her eyes, and that’s when their eyes met for the first time. “No….no…” Rainbow looked pained, but true to her nature seemed to put on a brave face as she approached. Perhaps that was even a convincing face to the others for all she knew but Rarity had gotten far better at reading ponies emotions than those around her. Rarity did her best to smile comfortingly as she approached the mare slowly.

Rarity’s eyes flicked downward, instinctively looking over her wardrobe. Strange, that she wasn’t in disguise. It was in her nature to act; to don a costume, and play ‘in character’ for this world. Still, for the first time thus far she wasn’t in character. She just needed to be herself. That part could still be played, right? Rarity was wearing blackened and well toned leather, oiled with some substance that made it shine. As though that didn’t try to make her stand out enough the pony had a light pink scarf crossing her neck. It set the simple-minded at ease when one wore pretty colours.

“Rainbow darling, you look positively ill!” She opened, then kicked herself slightly for opening with that. It wasn’t an eloquent opening line, but it was a friendly one, and that’s what was important. Letting her friend know that her real friends needed her. Not have here stuck in some fantasy of status and clout among those like her. “Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised…” Rarity continued, throwing a cautious look around at the barbarians that surrounded her. Her voice lowered noticeably as she continued on: “I can only imagine what you’ve been eating without Twilight and I to keep an eye on you.” Rainbow’s eyes closed as she looked towards the ground, Rarity could just make out clenched teeth behind those lips.

After a long, unbearable silence the mare pulled her gaze up, meeting with Rarity’s once more. Rainbow’s mouth opened, but no words came out. Her lips quivered for a minute, then finally, barely more than a whisper “I know you, don’t I?”

Rarity pursed her lips and looked apologetically at her friend, causing Rainbow’s gaze to retreat back to the ground. Well, this was to be expected. Up until she had run into Pinkie Pie the white mare hadn’t given her friends a second thought. If Rainbow had done the same then that meant she was just getting caught up now, all at once. Honestly, this was going well, despite the circumstances. Rarity’s eyes moved swiftly, looking instinctively at each movement of the pony, studying her mechanically to determine what direction her emotions would sway in. Guilt would be enough to get her to go with them, but she wouldn’t be nearly as effective - best to keep it light.“Of course we know each other…we’ve been friends for the longest of times.” She preened a bit, a mockery of her old self, hoping to help Rainbow Dash remember her. The pause lasted an uncomfortably long time “Well…the outfit’s new. I-”

“You made it yourself. Yeah, I figured.” A laugh pushed itself through a cyan maw, a bitter, remorseful laugh, but a laugh. She finally managed to catch her breath, looking up at Rarity. “I guess…We have some catching up to do.” A sad smile crossed the blue mare’s face as she tried to look upon Rarity. Rarity smiled, this con was easier than- Rarity’s mind stopped as though her train of thought hit a wall. This was her friend, and she was analyzing her, studying her like a mark, even trying to manipulate the girl who was clearly in distress! “This is kind of messed up.” She muttered, watching her friend’s eyes drift downward.

A purple mane shifted sideways as the mare turned her head slightly, looking inquisitively at Rainbow Dash “Umm, I don’t mean to interrupt Rainbow…” She said, an inquisitive hint in her voice.

“What?” Rainbow replied flatly as she stared off into space, seemingly disconnected from reality.

“I was wondering if there was a reason you were bleeding…” Rainbow’s eyes fell, traveling down Rarity’s outstretched hoof to where blood was slowly seeping down her leg. She paused, holding up her foreleg and watching quietly as the blood dripped to the ground.

“Oh…” she muttered, distracted, “I got shot.” shaking her head dismissively.

Rarity’s eyes closed, then her brow furrowed as she tried close them again, but found the universe lacking in such rules. A steady hoof found it’s way to her head and held there for a few moments. “I…” Her mouth hung open for a few seconds as she stood there, dumbfounded. “You got shot.” She finally managed, a hint of exasperation in her voice. “You got -shot-” Apparently the first attempt didn’t manage to have enough exasperation for her. “How…what are you doing having a conversation with me? An entire lifetime apart and you’re still getting yourself hurt so often it barely phases you? Honestly, I don’t know why I thought that you would-”

“Still bleeding-” Rainbow interjected, a note of irritation pushing through her dull monotone. As though to help Rainbow provided a visual aid, holding her leg closer so Rarity could watch the blood drops slip off and hit the ground.

An irritated sigh left Rarity’s lips as she put her hoof back down on the earth. “Right…right, I suppose we should deal with the blood loss first.” Rarity gave another accusative look as she looked around the camp. “I’m not all that good with bandages myself.” She admitted, “I assume someone around here must be fairly used to your…adventures.”

Rainbow nodded and started trotting through the camp, instinctively Rarity dropped behind and to her side to follow. Rarity’s eyes drifted around the camp, examining the life that Rainbow Dash familiarized herself with every day. It was strange for Rarity, she understood that many ponies held static lives, but to hold one out in the woods! “I guess they don’t really teach you magic in whatever sorcerer tower they had you locked up in huh?” Rainbow questioned, probably just to make small talk.

Rarity’s hackles raised as she looked about for a place to run or hide. Her stomach flipped about as she suppressed everything behind a calm demeanor and a smile. This was Rainbow Dash, her friend. It was okay if she knew things. Rainbow Dash continued to question her idly as they moved past the tents. A few ponies looked up and noticed their comrade was bleeding out, they were polite enough to move out of the way before continuing their conversation. Rarity carefully bit her lip as she followed her friend, drifting further back slightly behind her friend as an old habit. “Well…I kind of left the tower a while ago.” she admitted. “I don’t really have any magical ability…”

Rainbow Dash snickered to herself as she looked back jokingly to her friend “A unicorn that couldn’t handle learning magic? That’s new.”

Rarity lifted her head letting out an indignant humph, “I could have easily handled the magical training. But I would have denied the world the chance to see me if I was in that silly school all the time. How could I -possibly- do that to the wonderful nobleponies of Equestria!” A quick bob of her head flicked her hair to the side.

“Oh?” the cyan pony questioned with a grin, “And what exactly have you been doing since you left?”

Purple eyes shifted sideways for a moment, looking for any excuse to derail the conversation “Oh you know, mingling with royalty…hey! This one looks like it has bandages and…medicine things.” Rarity darted around Rainbow Dash, maneuvering her into the tent beside them.

“What?” The young warrior looked around confused for a moment before smiling “Right, yeah. This is Agrestal Remedy.” Rainbow trotted in, throwing a sad look to the medic, a strong, but more well groomed pony, at least she was trying. “Hey Agrestal!” Rainbow called out, waving a foreleg and sending drops of blood in several directions.

The pony she addressed turned about, a pink mare with a white mane and the smile of a familiar friend. With an eye roll she moved quickly over to Rainbow and reached up with her hoof, wiping a spot of blood of her face. “Welcome back Dashie, what’s it this time? Mace, sword…do I need to worry about ligaments?”

The multicoloured mane shook vigorously “Not this time doc, just a simple shoulder wound. I should be out of your mane in a jiffy.” Carefully Rainbow Dash pulled off the hide armor, gingerly slipping it off around her wound. Instinctively she moved over to the area with the bandages to make it easier on Agrestial.

Rainbow turned back to Rarity and plopped down on the ground as Agrestial started to pad at the small hole and clean it out with water. “How did you find me anyway?” the mare questioned her returned friend. A fair question Rarity assessed, after all until now her old friends had been a memory - something she couldn’t quite place. Hell, she didn’t even know she was supposed to be looking for her friends.

Eyebrows were raised as the leather clad pony moved closer to her friend “Well, to be honest I didn’t. Pinkie told me you were here.” Rarity shrugged as she took a seat herself “I have no idea how that pony knew where you were. I was just passing through and she just showed up out of nowhere.”

“I guess that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie?” Rainbow asked. She winced slightly as Agrestial turned a bottle over and dumped some on her wound. Rarity’s nose wrinkled as the strong scent of alcohol suddenly permeated the room, her head pulling back unconsciously. Agrestial moved to put the bottle back, but stopped at the wounded pony’s words “Ah ah ah!” Rainbow said warningly and shot her a look.

The medical pony sighed and rolled her eyes as she tipped the bottle back and Rainbow took a few mouthfuls. “Honestly, every time…” She muttered before placing the bottle back on her shelf.

Rainbow Dash feigned incredulity as she pulled her head back “What? I’m in agony over here, it’s for the pain.” Quickly she returned to her original position to look at Rarity again “So what’s the plan? We meet up with Pinkie and track down Twilight? She’s an egghead, she can probably figure this out.”

Uncomfortable lips were pursed as Rarity looked around the tent, and then back out into the camp. Her head hung a bit lower as she looked back to her friend as the bandages started to get wrapped on. For the first time she started to see the mare as the friend she once knew, and not an asset, it wasn’t a good feeling. “You’d pick up your whole life and leave, just like that?” she asked quietly.

A boastful grin was plastered on Rainbow’s face as her face twisted into a facsimile of bravado.“Oh come on Rarity, you know I’d never leave you guys hanging.” Her eyes closed, tightly for a few moments before she opened them again. Rarity would have guessed that it was the alcohol hitting her, but she guessed the pony had drank enough to form a resistance of some sort.

“Well…” Rarity hesitated, unsure of how to proceed “Pinkie actually gave me a message, she said it was important. Right before she sent me here” Rarity shifted uncomfortably, she had promised Pinkie she would get it done though. Getting Rainbow was the easy part believe it or not. Rainbow raised a questioning eyebrow, Pinkie was all over the place, and possibly insane, but ponies listened to her. “She said we need to make your tribe make peace with the Apple Clan.”

Eyes opened wide as the room froze in place. Rainbow’s mouth slowly opening as Agrestial stopped, halfway done wrapping the bandage, gazing upon Rarity with wide eyes as well. For a while things just stayed like that, Rainbow assessing the situation with her mouth agape. After a moment Agrestial Remedy picked the bottle from up on the shelf and pushed it into Rainbow’s forelegs. Agrestial continued her wrapping as she gave the mare a look, “Take it, you need it more than I do. I’ll probably be seeing you soon anyway.”

Rainbow numbly looked down at the bottle then upturned it, downing the contents before quickly tossing it to the ground as her attention turned to Rarity. “Make peace with the Apple Clan? Are you insane? We’ve been…Oh god, APPLE clan.” A blue hoof found it’s way to her face as the sudden realization set in. “We’ve been stealing from Applejack’s family haven’t we?” Rainbow didn’t open her eyes but Rarity knew she wasn’t actually waiting for an answer. Of course that was the case, otherwise things would be a lot easier.

Agrestrial pulled the bandage tightly and clipped it. Looking Rainbow over carefully “You’re not actually going to confront Truncheon about this are you?” she inquired, her eyes filled with worry.

“D…Damn right I am.” Rainbow muttered, standing up and walking past Rarity. “I’m gonna find him, and give him a piece of my mind. Tell him the ponies we’ve been fighting for seven years are going to be our new friends.” She blinked a few times, looking back “If I’m not back in an hour, you might need to prepare a funeral pyre.”

Rarity followed her friend out of the tent, looking back at the doctor and giving her hurried thanks before hurrying to catch up with Rainbow. “Rainbow, dear, tell me about this….Truncheon.” her face squished up at the word, a barbarian name if ever there was one.

The blue mare pressed on through the camp, weaving around ponies carefully “He’s a brute, but he’s a tactical genius. He makes the plans for our raids, and we pretty much always get away with it.” a calm swivel brought her about to see the stallion she’d been seeking.

Rarity gulped as she looked at him, the pony was a monster. His fur was a light brown, but his mane was a series of reds and blacks, like many of the ponies around here. He sat a head taller than either of the mares and a series of battle scars ran across his body. Rarity took in a shallow breath as she looked over to her friend “Just talk to him, don’t get too….pushy.”

Now that she’d found her quarry Rainbow stopped. Her eyes opened and she found her legs already moving to the massive stallion. As she reached him she stopped, giving him a determined look, “What?” he grumbled, his massive war hammer easily rested on his back despite the great weight.

“Hey there Truncheon…” She said sheepishly, one leg crossing over the other nervously “I was kind of thinking, maybe we could….not…steal from the Apple Clan?” She looked up at him with a hopeful smile. Rarity put a hoof to her face, why were ponies so horrible at manipulating each other? She’d have had a better chance just cursing him out, and that had almost no chance of succeeding!

Truncheon looked down at the mare who had barely talked to him in the three years she had been here and let out a harsh, barking laugh. With a smile he pulled her closer, wrapping his foreleg around her “Little Legslasher wants to make peace!” Another resounding laugh burst forth, “That’s a good one, I needed a laugh, thank you Legslasher.” With a push he let go of her and turned about, walking away with a smile on his face.

Rarity raised a questioning eyebrow at her friend, “Legslasher?” She mouthed the words incredulously.

Pale white teeth grit as Rainbow looked back at Rarity for the briefest of moments before looking back to her retreating leader. With courage barely mustered she took a few determined steps forward. “Hey, I’m serious!”

The brown stallion froze in place, slowly turning around with a raised eyebrow. “Oh?” His massive body stalking forward as he bore down on her. “Do you have a problem with the way I’m running this tribe? You think you can lead us better little Legslasher?” he extended a hoof, pushing the mare back a few steps.

Rainbow’s legs shook slightly as she stood in defiance of him “Look, maybe we could just make some sort of deal with them? You know, negotiate or whatever…”

His eyes narrowed as he looked around as several of the tribesmen surrounded them, watching the rare sight of their leader being questioned. He let out a snort “If you think you can lead this tribe better, fine. You can meet me in the ring tomorrow and prove it.” He snorted in her face as he turned, shouldering her harshly as he turned.

“Y-yeah!” Rainbow yelled bravely as he walked away “You’d better back out, cause I-I’ll take you up…in one blow…” Rainbow stood, she seemed pale, despite all the Cyan fur. Rarity quickly moved forward as her friend swayed, either from alcohol or the fact that she was apparently suicidal. Carefully Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder, which seemed to snap her back to the land of the living.

“You’re not actually planning to fight that brute are you Rainbow?” Rarity questioned, a look of concern etched on her face as she looked from her friend to the mountain of muscle walking away.

Her furry body shook slightly as Rainbow Dash tried to snap herself out of it. Proudly she stood up and put on a weak smile “Yeah…of course. I’m, Rainbow Dash, I can take anyone on.” A hoof brazenly pounded her chest before she dropped down. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna get some rest…” The cyan pony hung her head as she slipped away for her tent.
------

A few hours passed as Rarity made the rounds the way she did at every new location she came to. In that time she had hit their supply room and convinced some of the younger stallions to get her a few drinks while she talked to them. She’d also worked out who the major players were in here. Granted none of them were important in the grand scheme of things, but they had their own system here, and Rarity had -eventually- learned to respect those. Well, respect was a heavy word... perhaps more like ... acknowledge?

Curiously, and more out of habit than anything else, she determined roughly how much money this little group made. It was a sizable amount, not worth the risk of taking it mind you, but the mare did have to admit to a bit of curiosity as to where all the extra coin was being kept.

But as night finally descended on the small clan, and many of the tribesmen went to sleep Rarity finally took action. Casually she walked up to the little tent and poked her head in. What she expected was to find a half drunk Rainbow Dash lying in a pile of furs with a bottle of booze but the reality was slightly different. Rainbow Dash stood in the middle of her tent on one leg, her forehooves were together and one of her hind legs was drawn up. She simply stood, motionless in the center of the immaculately well kempt room with her eyes closed. Rarity paused, looking on this image dumbfounded. Standing on your hind legs for any amount of time was difficult, to hold a pose like that took incredible balance.

As Rarity cleared her throat Rainbow opened her eyes and dropped to all fours again with a smile, her presence slightly more at ease than when last they met. “Hey Rarity.” She mumbled, looking at the ground. “Sorry about earlier, it’s a lot to take in.”

“It’s fine..” Rarity told her, sidling up beside her and having a seat “What’s with….you know?”

For a moment Rainbow Dash looked confused, but then a spark of recognition lit her up, “Oh that.” She shook her head with a smile, taking a seat beside her friend “It’s an old habit I picked up since we got here, it helps me think, and it reminds me of an old friend.” She was quiet for a few moments before picking the conversation up again “If you need a place to sleep tonight-”

“No darling.” Rarity cut her off “I just need to know what the odds are that you can fight this…Truncheon fellow and win.” Rainbow Dash put on a cocky smile and turned her head to the side, opening her mouth before Rarity stopped her with a concerned look “Rainbow…honestly.”

A dejected sigh left the mare’s lips “Well, anything’s possible. I’ve gotten in a lucky shot against opponents I didn’t think I could beat before. There’s a chance he’ll screw up for a split second…” A soft sigh was issued, as her eyes drifted closed, a soft voice escaping her maw, “Realistically, no.”

Rarity stood and quickly moved to the door “Then we’re leaving.” She informed her friend, “I’m not about to have you destroyed by some monster of a pony. We’ll slip out and find another way to deal with them, mercenaries, fire, poison. There’s a lot we can manage.” Her hoof lifted the flap to the side, letting moonlight come spilling into the tent.

Rainbow had a sad smile as she moved over to Rarity, nuzzling her for a moment “No. This is my family here, for better or worse. I’m not about to have them killed. I’ll just have to hope tomorrow goes well.” She turned about and went back to the middle of her tent. “Drop by when you’re ready to sleep Rarity, I can spare a few furs.”

Rarity stepped back outside and cursed quietly under her breath. She should have known that wasn’t going to work. Dash was so stubborn she couldn’t be made to see this was the most reasonable way. Well, if she had to fight that…thing tomorrow, the least Rarity could do was even the odds.

Quickly from her jacket she produced a dagger, spinning it about a bit it one hoof she reached down with her mouth and bit the hilt. Hastily the dagger spun about and a bit on the hilt was unscrewed revealing the hollow innards of the handle. Rarity reared up, slipping a vial out into an awaiting hoof before screwing the piece back onto the hilt. As she sheathed the dagger she looked over the vial, filled with a cloudy green liquid. With a smile she stowed it in a pouch. Sure, the liquid wouldn’t outright kill the stallion, but it’d make fighting him a whole lot easier.

Carefully Rarity stalked through the camp, avoiding the guards wandering around. She supposed she didn’t need to sneak about, but she really didn’t want to chance anyone wondering about her presence. Carefully she slipped up to the tent, pulling her scarf securely over her face. Cautiously she pulled the flap back but it was dark, and with no lantern it was difficult to see, even for one of her talents. He was probably sleeping, but Rarity strained her ears for sounds of the man sleeping but yet again there was nothing! She froze, was it possible she’d been heard? Was that behemoth sitting in there with his war hammer raised, just waiting for anyone stupid enough to try something?

Blood pumped in Rarity’s ears as she stood outside the tent, frozen with indecision. She couldn’t even feel the cold breeze passing through her mane. Holding her breath the mare opened her leather jacket, letting the multiple rows of daggers hang loose against their sheaths. She felt each of the brushing against her chest as she grit her teeth, pushing the flap to the side and sneaking into the darkness.

The darkness closed around her as she sat in the warm tent, holding her breath, fearing the slightest sound would bring a massive war hammer crashing down on her. Carefully she reached into one of her pouches and took out a small bauble, tossing it a few feet in. Instantly the room flared up in a dull red light as one of Rarity’s daggers flew from their sheath, lifting up defensively…and nothing.

She stood alone in the room with the sound of her own light breathing. The light quickly died out as the bauble consumed itself and Rarity moved up to the bed “Where in the devil’s name could that brute have gotten to?” Letting out a sigh as she set her dagger back and tightened her jacket back ups she decided she couldn’t just wait for him to get back here. If she just lurked around outside there was the chance she was going to get caught. She’d stay up as long as she could and keep an eye out for him, but if he didn’t show…

----

Rarity’s eyes bolted open as she pulled herself out of a pile of Rainbow’s furs and looked around. Rainbow wasn’t there, groggily the pony rolled to the side, kicking the furs off and getting to her feet. “Rainbow…” She muttered dramatically as she took a few steps towards the door before hesitating, “There’s not much I can do for her now…and showing up with a messy mane won’t….” She closed her eyes and pushed a hoof into her face, “What am I doing! I don’t have time for this!” hastily she grabbed the pouch with the brush from amongst her things and took off into the camp.

Hastily the pony looked around the camp and saw the rather massive group of ponies gathering around a raised wooden platform. As Rarity hurried towards it a jubilant cheer exploded from the crowd, and it only took a moment for Rarity to see why. Slowly moving up the stairs was a familiar cyan pony, walking to her own execution with a quiet dignity.

The white mare rushed to one of the mares cheering in the crowd and tapped their flank making them turn about in confusion. “What are the rules to this contest?” She asked hastily, concern pulling at the corners of her eyes “How does it end?”

The pony simply looked at her as though she was insane. She issued a loud snort as she looked back to the stage, trying to enjoy the fight. “It ends with drinking and feasting!” Came the reply, as though the answer was obvious. Rarity felt her muscles start to relax, “But it starts with them fighting till there’s only one pony left alive on the platform.”

Rarity’s eyes bulged and her stomach tightened as she tried to take that in. “W-what?”

The mare’s head slowly turned to the white pony that was distracting her “Did I fucking stutter? They fight, one of them goes down, then feasting.” Irritated she turned back to the stage, determined not to miss the fighting part of the fight.

With a gasp Rarity brushed her way through the crowd and shouldered the irritated barbarian out of the way as she made her way to her friend.“Rainbow Dash!” she cried out, stopping her friend in her tracks.

Standing on the stairs with one hoof on the arena Rainbow Dash simply looked at Rarity and gave her a reassuring smile. The world seemed to slow down for a few moments, letting them in on a private moment they could share. Rainbow had changed her usual loadout for this fight and replaced it with a rather huge bronze shield and a war hammer of her own, making her sag slightly. Blinking eyes stared back from behind a bronze helmet before finally the moment had past, and Rainbow Dash was on the platform, staring down a stallion almost twice her size.

Rainbow Dash struggled out to the middle of the arena and stood up, brashly raising her war hammer, before it came crashing down sideways. With a panicked grunt she lifted it halfway again before it hit the floor. Wide eyed, Rainbow looked up in the direction of a harsh laugh and saw Truncheon, his war hammer strapped to his back, and it didn’t seem to slow him down at all. “It’s not easy trying to hold a weapon for a -real- stallion, is it little Legslasher?” he mocked, taking a few steps up to his starting position.

The mare on the side put her lips to a horn and blew, the loud reverberating sound let the contestants know that the fight had begun. Rainbow desperately tried to pull her weapon a few times, but as Truncheon approached she let out a whimper and let it go, backing up several steps. Truncheon laughed as Rainbow stopped, her hind hoof only half connecting with the very edge of the arena. “There’s nowhere to run little Legslasher…” he mocked as he turned to the crowd, “These are MY ponies! They know a true champion when they see one!” The crowd roared with the prompting of their leader. “Just apologize here, in front of all these ponies, and leave.” He grinned as he watched his opponent hold up her massive shield, it covered almost her entire body as she cowered at the edge of the ring.

“I-if you’d ever stop y-your bitching. I’d be happy to b-beat your retard ass in ten seconds flat!” Rainbow declared, her shaking voice undermining the brazen statement.

Truncheon’s eyes widened in outrage as he wheeled about on the little mare, letting out a snort at her. “Oh, now I’m just going to fucking kill you!” He screamed, charging straight at her in a mad rush. He was fast, incredibly fast. He was on her in under two seconds and as he reared up he grabbed his hammer, bringing it down with a massive warcry on her shield, smashing it with the with the force of a train.

The shield gave way with almost no pressure, and with a hit that hard was sent flying out of the ring, scattering dirt as it slammed down and rolled to a halt, leaving a surprising lack of rainbow-coloured hair and bodily entrails.

Moments before it was hit Rainbow spun, dancing out from behind the shield on her hind legs. Careful sidesteps were executed with exacting precision as she flowed around the shield and came up beside the beast. Her forelegs were both raised and held out in one of the more traditional monk fighting stances.

Truncheon’s hammer collided with the side of the stage and sent a shockwave of pain back through his hooves. With a grunt he felt gravity pulling him forward, his massive upper body strained his legs to the limit as the force of his blow carried him forward. Muscles bulged and strained as he pulled himself backwards, grunting with the strain of the effort. He almost made it, almost managed to pull himself back, and that’s when Rainbow’s hoof gently pressed against his back.

With a scream Truncheon was gently pushed, and sent toppling head over heels sprawling into the dirt below. The crowd went silent as the grave as Rainbow stood triumphantly on the stage, victory was hers. Truncheon turned about on the ground, a seething fury permeating him as Rainbow’s helmet landed on the ground next to him. “One blow.” she reminded him, cocking her head to the side with an arrogant smile.

Rarity’s face lit up as she cried out in triumph. The cheers of her people erupted all around her and Rainbow turned, raising her hooves to pose for her adoring public. Up here she felt truly alive, there was nothing she loved more than the attention of others and everyone knowing she was the best. But her victory was short lived. With a vicious roar Truncheon leapt back up onto the stage, his mouth open and revealing a row of sharp teeth. His eyes glowed red as he leapt upon her from behind and ruined her moment, blows raining into the back of her head in his fury.

Rarity was instantly knocked around and battered as over a hundred ponies stampeded past her, knocking her to the side. With a grunt Rarity focused on simply staying on her feet, she knew how dangerous a wall of rushing hooves could be. The crowd swept up onto the stage and grabbed their leader, hauling him off of the poor mare as they grabbed anything they could, some even struck him for good measure. Rushing from the back Rarity could make out Agrestial hurrying towards the stage, a bag clutched firmly in her mouth.

Ponies hauled Trunchon back and cleared out of the way as Agrestial rushed to Rainbow’s side, quickly followed by Rarity. The cyan pony lay on her back, blood covering a good portion of her swollen and misshapen face. Gently Agrestial wiped some of the blood free as one of Rainbow’s eyes drifted over to settle on her friend. “They get him?” She muttered in a haze.

Rarity sat next to her friend resting a hoof on her comfortingly “Yes Rainbow, they have him. You’re going to be okay…”

Rainbow let out a small chuckle before closing her eye “I can’t believe he fell for that…no one will listen to him now…Applejack‘s fami…” Rainbow simply stopped speaking as Agrestial started examining her.

Comments

[ALIENwolve]

Pinkie Pie is Roger Rabbit. Her ability to do the impossible only works when it's funny, not when it's convenient to the plot. But whatever.

Rainbow picking up meditation: Interesting trait. Good.

Rarity doing the "thief pretending to be of another, powerful profession" thing. Classic. Unfortunately, she doesn't get to accomplish anything significant yet. This is counterbalanced by Dash embracing the monk style.

Combat banter between Dash and Truncheon feels a little childish. Y'know, like bad, angsty, self-inserts tend to sound like.

Extra " at the end of the fight.

Feels a little anti-climatic that the crowd is the key element in actually stopping him. It's a good moment for Rarity to disable him with her poison first.