Vanguard

by knives4cash

Phase Two

The following day, at the crack of dawn, Ponyville began its daily routine as per usual. Birds began to chirp; ponies began to stir; and Rainbow Dash sat uneasy in the library.

She was debating on whether or not she should go to work today, considering what could happen in her absence.

The sound of hooves walking down the stairs quickly drew her attention. She saw Twilight coming down said stairs.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, Rainbow." Twilight asked, "But won't you be late for work if you stay any longer?"

"Everypony's counting on me to protect you," Rainbow Dash argued.

Twilight sighed. "Rainbow, that's not entirely true. Go on; you need your job, and you know it."

Rainbow Dash protested, "You're more important than my job!"

Twilight reasoned, "Think, Rainbow. If you were out to get somepony, would you make your move in broad daylight? Especially if you were parading around in a Mare Do Well Costume?"

Rainbow Dash lowered her head and mumbled, "No."

Twilight glanced at the clock. "Seven past six." She looked back to Rainbow Dash. "Go on. I'll be fine."

Rainbow Dash sighed in defeat and headed for the door.

Twilight called out, "You can drop by at dinner time! I'll have Spike set an extra plate for you!"

Rainbow Dash thanked her and flew off for Cloudsdale.

---

Within the Everfree Forest, in the small, makeshift campsite, the pony rose at the sounds of the wildlife. She slowly trotted out of the hollowed tree that she had been sleeping in and stretched her legs.

"Sleeping on a dirt floor. Fun, fun, fun."

Yawning, she finished her stretches and approached her stash of supplies. Amidst said stash was a worn cardboard box that she went right for. Opening it, she took out her newly dyed black Mare Do Well costume. Although she had given it plenty of time to dry and looked it over throughly, she cautiously examined it once more. "Hmmm, yes. Very good," she said in approval. She donned the protagonist-turned-antagonist articles of clothing and said aloud, "This will give me quite the covert edge during my nightly excursions."

After eating a breakfast of stolen packaged bread and slightly old apples, she swallowed the rest of her water supply through a rudimentary green canteen.

Looking at her empty water bottles and various containers, she mumbled, "I'll have to make a stop at the river later." Standing up, she struck a pose and exclaimed, "Phase Two begins now!"

---

Deeper inside the Everfree Forest, a door to a certain hut opened up, and Zecora stepped outside into the morning mist. Standing still, she took in the scenery of the jungle before her. Exotic trees surrounded her; equally exotic and foreign plants lay nestled around the immediate area; but something was off.

"What's she doing? How long is she going to stand there like that?

The small smile on Zecora's face quickly vanished. "Something is wrong," she murmured, "The birds, they do not sing their song." Quietly observing, she continued, "The frogs are perturbed," she looked at the path that lead to her hut, "And the ground is disturbed." Zecora assumed a readied stance and began to look and listen for any foreign traces of an enemy presence.

"So much for being covert." The pony leapt from the thick shrubbery that she had hidden behind and charged towards Zecora.

Upon hearing the sound, Zecora spun around to meet the invader and exclaimed while dodging the incoming black blur, "What is the meaning of this?! Do you not know of common sense?!"

Missing her target, the pony quickly slid to a halt, keeping her target in sight, and quickly turned the rest of her body to face Zecora. She calmly asked in a smooth but demanding tone, "Where is the Alicorn Amulet?"

The two ponies began to slowly pace around each other in a circle, turning the immediate area into an arena.

Zecora spat, "I know not what it is you want with the amulet, but I won't let you get away with it!"

The pony made the first move, charging at Zecora and taking multiple shots at the zebra who commenced dodging as quickly and efficiently as she threw them.

Going on the offensive, Zecora made her move, rearing up and throwing an upper cut with her right foreleg.

Dodging the punch, the pony dropped onto her side, using both of her forelegs as leverage to swing the entire lower half of her body around, slamming into Zecora and knocking her off balance.

As Zecora's hind legs gave out underneath her, the pony finished her spin and resumed her stance in time to use the uniform circular motion of her spin to leap into the air and roundhouse kick Zecora clean across the arena and into a tree's trunk.

Leaves dropped as Zecora crashed against the bark, knocking the wind out of her. Quickly recovering, she saw the black Mare Do Well charging towards her. Zecora quickly stood up on her hind legs, firmly placed her forelegs behind her against the tree, and launched herself high enough to bring up her hind legs and threw a kick with all her might.

The pony saw the kick coming and immediately responded to it by launching herself into a forward flip, sticking out her hind legs to meet Zecora's.

The two ponies' hooves made contact with an audible crack in midair, canceling out the momentum that both had gathered in their moves.

They both fell to the ground and quickly scrambled to recover.

The pony landed on her back and used her forelegs to preform an acute angular backflip, earning her a few precious feet of space.

Not wanting to be backed up against a tree, Zecora gathered momentum by rolling to her right and cartwheeling herself into a proper battle stance.

The two ponies began to slowly pace around each other in a circle again.

"Your hoof-to-hoof combat is refined," Zecora stated, "But I prefer to know the names of the ponies I fight."

"My name?" The pony chuckled, "I haven't had any need for a proper name." She charged forward.

Anticipating another attack, Zecora did a double backflip to maintain the distance between herself and her attacker. She finished her second flip and looked ahead to see that the pony had disappeared.

Rustle

She looked up to see that the mare had faked her out. Instead of repeating her first move, she had jumped up and into the tree branches above their arena and was already on her way down, legs first.

Before Zecora could dodge, the pony had crashed into her with her full body weight. The zebra fell back awkwardly, bending in on her hind legs.

Letting out a scream of agony, Zecora landed on the ground, pinned beneath the weight of her opponent.

Taking advantage of this turn of events, the pony stayed on top of her target and used a fore leg to cut off Zecora's oxygen supply. "You're two miles from Ponyville," she warned.

Despite the excruciating pain, Zecora managed to listen to the black Mare Do Well.

The pony eased off on Zecora's windpipe and continued to speak. "Both of your hind legs are either twisted or broken; you require immediate medical attention." The pony offered, "If you tell me where you hid the Alicorn Amulet, you can also tell me how to build a splint for your legs."

Panting, Zecora asked, "And if I refuse? What have I to lose?"

"I'm going to go into your hut and destroy everything until I find it." She estimated, "And if I'm as thorough as I believe I'll be, you'll lose your only chance at fixing yourself. I am not ignorant of your chemical sorcery abilities." She leaned in closer and deadpanned, "You'll never make it to Ponyville in your current state. They'll find your body lying face first in the dirt being picked apart by Everfree's carnivorous animals."

Losing her fight against the pain, Zecora gasped in defeat, "Alight, I give up! The item you seek is in my hut!"

"Where?"

"A small, red box! beneath the stove with the whistling teapot!"

The pony gave a small laugh. "Really? You hid it under your stove?"

"Yes!" Zecora pleaded, "There is no need to protest! See for yourself and put the matter to rest!

Without delay, the pony removed herself from Zecora's person and entered the hut. Sure enough, there was a teapot whistling strong, and beneath the stove, well hidden from plain view, was a small, red box.

"If I am right, this amulet is not restricted to unicorns and alicorns only.

She pulled the box out of its hiding place and opened it, revealing the desired artifact in question.

"I finally get to see you up close."

Without hesitation, she placed the amulet around her neck. Immediately, she felt its effect. "Fascinating! I can feel its magic at work! The amulet is augmenting each and everyone of my abilities!

She flexed her forelegs. "My strength, I feel like I can move a mountain!"

She unleashed a blur of punches, kicks, and backflipped her way out of the hut and into the clearing, jumping from the ground and into a tree, ten feet above the ground. "My agility and stamina! I could run a mile in a minute!

She leapt from the tree and forward flipped, landing on the ground with soundless effort.

The pony said to Zecora, "Since you have held up your end of the bargain, I shall hold up mine. Now, how shall I go about building you two splints?"

Zecora looked away in shame and began to instruct her victor on assembling a splint.

---

Author's note: Phase Two is complete. Despite the mixed results, I will finish this side project. Vanguard is an idea, and it infested my mind long enough to warrant an examination. As always, constructive criticism is welcome. Or, if you don't feel like expressing yourself, you can dislike or like it. Or you can leave me wondering what you thought. Your call.

Comments

[fyre]

interesting fight, though i wonder if zecora would really let the bad pony win so easily

[knives4cash]

1795038 Two broken legs still equate to two broken legs, whether you're a grand master at the martial arts or a rookie.

[fyre]

1795055
true...very true...