Interviews With Equestrians

by Jmaster49

Subject 283: Round 4

Outside...above the castle…

The last thing I could remember was being flung into the sky high above the castle and the ground below. Was that it? Was I about to lose my life entirely? Did I ascend to heaven?

Pfft. What was I saying? I deserved no place in the afterlife.

But no, that’s not what happened at all. In reality, I had actually been thrown straight up into the sky. Which sucked massively since I knew I’d start to fall eventually and had no way to brace myself for the impact.

“...Shit,” I mumbled as soon as my eyes locked with the ground. I swiftly shut them, and clenched tightly, fearfully.

That is, until I felt myself fully suspended in mid-air. I didn’t fall, and I didn’t move unless I wanted to.

“...Huh?” I took a look around, “...What gives? Wait...”

This had to be a trick by Grogar. Any moment now, he was going to pop up out of nowhere and surprise me with some new form akin to an eldritch abomination just as every major threat to Equestria had done in the past. Well whatever the case, I readied myself for it. There was nothing of this earth that could scare me out of my skin by this point.

“...If you’re expecting some kind of spectacle, then I’m sorry to disappoint,” Grogar commented as he floated up to my level in the sky. “I’m not so frail as to hide my true self behind some forced, nonsensical transformation.”

Well then. I had nothing but respect for such a choice--as weird as it sounded. The best (and worst) part of my job was the fact that I often dealt with real criminals who needed real punishment. Not super-powered deities who could skate by on power alone. As a result, it was oddly refreshing to see someone so malevolent be so...honest? Not sure how to describe it.

“...I see,” I replied after a moment, “Well you know that only one of us can survive from this point on. For the good of everything I and all of my friends stand for, I will do my best to erase you from existence.”

To my surprise, the ram’s reply was rather amicable. “Good,” he said, “It would be a shame for you to fall back on your beliefs by this point. You’re far more interesting than you let on. It’s almost sad in a nostalgic sort of way.” He gave a hoarse chuckle, “Hm...if only I could have been stopped back then by someone other than that witch…”

My ear flicked. Just what did he mean by that? “Excuse me?”

Grogar quickly brushed it aside, however. “Never mind that. It’s time for us to end this. Show me your conviction, Pale.”

Since he was so poised to end the monologue, I decided to grant his request. That’s when I realized that we both stood on some sort of invisible platform high above the ground below. I could still see everything…

With a mighty stampede of his hooves that sounded like a thousand drums that punctured the earth, Grogar charged at me with the might of an entire freight train. He leapt into the air towards me, hooves outstretched, likely ready to grind my face into a pulp.

CLACK!

But I blocked his charge with a clash of limbs. Both of our forelegs locked around each other’s necks in a deadly struggle. It took everything I had just to match his strength, and I could already feel my bones sprain in individual parts.

However, he wasn’t perfect either. I could see it in his eyes. Those doubtful yellow eyes that were a bit like my own. Pained. Uncertain. Filled with conviction. I could even see a bead of sweat roll down the side of his face. This had gotten more intense than he would have imagined too…

I couldn’t keep this up forever, though. I needed to break that clinch we were in so I could deal proper damage to his body.

With a shove, I broke our grapple, and delivered a swift roundhouse to his ribs which was enough to send him backwards a few paces.

“Grgh!” Once he recovered from the stumble, he activated another gravity spell. One that pulled me towards him by force.

“...!”

Before I could react, I was struck with a brutal clothesline that almost dislocated my entire jawline, and I hit the invisible floor like a sack of rocks.

“Agh!” I yelped as I fell onto my back. I funneled as much magic I could--directly into my head in order to stave off losing consciousness.

That’s when I could sense that something bad was about to happen.

“...”

SLAM!

I barely rolled out of the way in time before Grogar slammed a hoof right where my face was. That was a mane hair away from taking my whole damn face off!

But I thought quickly. As soon as the ram was left open, I rose to my hooves, and lunged straight at him. This time, my target was his tail. I rushed in, and clenched my teeth around his tail hard enough to form a tight grip. Then, I threw my head backwards which lifted Grogar up and over my body in order to body slam him onto the floor in the sky.

And before he could do anything else, I put him in a submission hold. I held onto one of his legs, threatening to break it as I put a hoof directly on his abdomen.

“...You still have a chance to give up,” I said, “Don’t make this anymore difficult than it needs to be.”

Grogar sputtered with another weak cough. “Bleck! Ahem...I think you know what you have to do.”

Comments

[Neo4K]

“...You still have a chance to give up,” I said, “Don’t make this anymore difficult than it needs to be.”

Grogar sputtered with another weak cough. “Bleck! Ahem...I think you know what you have to do.”

Should he snap his neck and kill him? Or should he spare his life? Man, this feels like a choice-driven video game. Plus, I think the last thing Pale would want is more blood on his hooves, even if it is Grogar. It's like Svengallop all over again.