Marks of Sorrow

In his dream he was a dragon soaring through the sky. He felt the tension and power in each beat of his wings and tasted with forked tongue the fear of any pony his shadow fell upon.

Far below they scurried about in panic, seeking shelter in the buildings of their little village.

He snorted. As though any of their pathetic works could protect them from his wrath. Not one of them had the courage to confront him, much less the power to stop him. Here in the sky, HE was the supreme master, safe.

Suddenly his illusion fell to pieces. He sensed that he was no longer alone, in the vague way that dream senses work.

A powerful wingstroke sent Dragon Silver Slice banking right. The scales of his long, sinuous neck rattled with the gale-force of his attacker's near miss. Draconic fury began to build as he leaned further into the turn, flipping briefly to fly belly skyward in hopes of getting a glimpse of his foe. The sky was clear, with no sign of the one who dared challenge him. He still had the nagging feeling that he was very much in danger. The fire in his gut twisted, begging for release, but he held back.

Some nebulous instinct alerted him to another incoming strike, and he folded his wings just in time to plummet out of the way. A sharp sting and the cracking of the scales below his left eye told him he hadn't escaped entirely unscathed, but he had what he needed. A glowing green blade flew, flickering and fading from sight even as it sped away. Silver roared a challenge and poured forth his fury in dragonfire. The blade vanished in flame.

The dragon threw open its wings to arrest its fall, wincing at the sudden strain of wind on leather. The ground was approaching far faster than he was comfortable with. A glint of green raced upward even faster, and Silver Slice felt his mighty heart clench as he realized the trap. Pulling out of his stall left him little speed or room to dodge, but leaning into the dive would result in a crash even if it would give him the speed to avoid the green blade and its invisible wielder. Another blast of dragonfire wouldn't be available in time, which meant he'd have to rely on counterattacking with claw or tooth.

Another powerful flap to level out, and it was upon him. Claws longer and sharper than swords raced to meet a streak of flickering, insubstantial color. It slid between the dragons digits with the grace of a dancer, slashing towards his face. Silver Slice closed his eyes and braced for the pain.

========== TRANSITION ==============

The blade of grass swayed in the gentle breeze, tapping the colt's snout once, twice, thrice.

"AH-CHOO" Silver Slice blearily opened his ice-blue eyes, memory of the dream fleeing his mind like a shadow. The sun's rays warmed his coat, and the wind brought with it the soothing scents of red and yellow leaves. All-in-all, it was perfect weather to return to his nap, but as the colt's sight came into focus he realized that this would not be an option. Two of his classmates stood only a few paces away, looking like his violent sneeze had interrupted whatever words they had been about to speak, leaving their lips to tremble uselessly.

He yawned without bothering to get up and studied the two. "Can I help ya?"

The one on on the right, a teal colored unicorn colt with a brown mane and a cutie mark resembling a pair of scissors, snapped his mouth shut and glared. Probably thought he had the advantage because he was bigger than Silver Slice. Well, heavier and wider anyway. Maybe it was the weight of all that fat which made his voice so nasally and annoying. "Yeah, we got something to say to you!" getting the words out seemed to bolster his confidence some, and he grinned like an idiot.

Dead silence hung in the air for a few seconds. The prone colt felt the weight of everyone's gaze as he lazily rolled onto his side, extending his legs out in a stretch. "Go on then." he grunted in relief as the muscles of his haunches and croup loosened. "Say it."

The fat one, Silver briefly wished he'd paid more attention during introductions last week so he could put a name to the round face, looked over at his friend and gave him a shove.

"Go on, say it like we practiced." Fatty whispered urgently.

The other colt had a small, weedy frame and a burnt orange coat which looked like it was in need of brushing. To this point he'd been staring ahead vacantly, but Fatty's words bounced around his skull and finally seemed to settle in. His forehoof pawed at the grass twice and he lowered his head to level his horn at Silver. It was a small thing, barely protruding from a messy clump of Blue-green mane, but the challenge was clear even before he spoke.

"We don't like your face! So we're gonna stomp you into the ground!"

"Great..." Silver thought to himself as he rolled over onto his hooves and considered his options. Backing down definitely wasn't on the table, this was his first test in this new school and if he was to have any peace he'd have to make things crystal clear... but maybe he could still avoid this fight.

"Ya don't know me too well, I geddit. So lemme tell ya the score." He raised himself to his full height and twisted his neck to one side with an audible pop. Both unicorns grimaced at the sound. "I'd like to let yous two off with a warnin', on account that kicking your flank's not worth my time or the trouble of my dad yellin at me." The hard edge of his hoof dug a shallow trench in the yard and he stepped back from it. "But if you just gotta learn who's the hardest stallion on this field, step across that line. I'm not a gentle teacher though."

"Uhh..." Fatty started to sweat as the newcomer stared him down. Something about this pony made him intensely uncomfortable, and he unconsciously took a step back as he cast his eyes around the schoolyard. Everyone was looking at him, waiting to see if he'd chicken out and back down, even the friend who stood by his side. His eyes met Diamond Tiara's and he could see steel in them. No doubt that he'd be in trouble either way, so he made his choice.

Even the rotund unicorn was surprised as he gave a shuddering whinny and bolted toward Silver with his head low.

"Damn, too stupid to intimidate usually also means too stupid to know when to quit." the earth pony griped internally. He'd have to be careful not to send this one to the hospital. Silver stood stock still as his foe bore down on him, then at the last moment tucked his legs in and dropped belly-first onto the ground. The unicorn's horn passed harmlessly over its target, and so did the rest of him. With a grunt and a beat of his heart, the earth pony sent magic to his muscles as he sprang powerfully to his feet. Fatty gave a squeek as the upward force sent him flying and his own forward momentum caused him to tumble hoof over horn. He landed in a groaning heap several feet behind Silver.

A moments distraction as he assessed Fatty's fighting shape was all the other one needed. Orange Pipsqueek was apparently not as dim as he looked. At least he remembered to fight like a unicorn as he grabbed a nearby hoofball with his telekinesis and slammed it into the back of the other colt's head. If it'd been something harder it might have caused a concussion, but instead it merely stunned Silver for a second. The ball was came around for a second pass, and it struck him across the side of his snout. Silver tasted blood as the inside of his cheek met his teeth.

"Don't hurt my friend!"

A thought fought its way through the pain. "Sheesh, maybe he's dim after all. Like he doesn't even realize who started it."

"Worry 'bout yourself." Silver spat out a wad of blood and charged, but soon had to leap to the side to avoid the incoming ball. Whoever this guy was, Silver had to admit he had his TK down pat. He had control enough to harry the earth pony and return it to defense position if Silver's hoof connected to knock it away. His spacing was good too, never so close that the brief loss of control would allow Silver to close the distance and get hoof to hoof. Several aborted charges later, the earth pony was running out of time. If he allowed Fatty enough time to recover he'd have to choose between losing and really hurting someone, and he hated losing.

Silver pumped his magic to get some distance in the leap, and Pipsqueek's ball whizzed underneath his barrel. Muscle enhancement was among the simplest and least strenuous uses of magic for earth ponies, but he'd had to use it more than he liked to stay one step ahead of the damnable ball, and it was starting to strain him. He landed with a huff and flicked his tail up in a fan of hair, knowing he'd get only one chance to make this work. The ball came whizzing from behind, aimed straight for the back of his head. As soon as he felt it touch the hairs of his tail, Silver reacted by collapsing his forelegs and falling forward onto his chest. The ball missed his skull by a few hair's breadth, overshooting by about a dozen feet before reversing course to head straight back. By then he was already rearing back onto his hind legs and ready for it. A powerful hoof blow sent the rubber ball rocketing back towards Pipsqueek's face.

The crowd of fillies and colts gasped as the small unicorn focused his power on the incoming missile, trying to regain control. It halted a few inches from his snout, rotating slowly while he regarded it with a cross-eyed stare. The crowd of onlookers gave a collective sigh of relief.

Silver dropped back to all fours. He needed to stall for a bit more time if this next part was going to work. "Hey, Orange. What's your name?" He panted as his heart pumped magic to his forehooves, then down into the ground below.

"I'm Snails! Nice to meetcha!" the unicorn replied automatically, before realizing he probably shouldn't be so friendly. His face fell as he processed the mistake and wondered how to fix it. Usually his friend helped him with things like that, which reminded him. "Snips, you ok?" he called across the field.

Silver's front hooves sank slightly and he got an almost imperceptible whiff of wet earth.

Fatty/Snips was struggling to his hooves, still wheezing from his tumble. "Just... catching my breath... buddy... Be with you in a minute...."

Almost out of time, Silver focused another pump of magic into the grass. If someone were extremely observant they would notice the blades around his hooves shudder independent of the breeze, but the major movement was in the twisting of the root system beneath the surface. "So Snails, props. You're better than I thought, but still no match for me. You wanna give it up?"

"Nope! Gonna get you good!"

"Alright then, pal, give me your best shot."

Silver was ready as the ball came screaming through the air towards him. As he reared back this time, his front hooves pulled up a shield of wet sod and tangled grass-root to meet the oncoming attack. Rather than bouncing off as it would with something stiff, the ball sank into the yielding earth and was enveloped.

A skilled earth-magi could transform or harden one sort of earth into another with little effort, but that was far beyond Silver's skill level. Instead he settled for forcibly expelling all the water from the soil, leaving it a sort of chalky, pottery-adjacent substance.

"Hey!" Snails gave the whole thing a telekinetic yank, but it was firmly in Silver's magical aura. "Give that back!"

"Sure thing, pal!" Silver sent a final pulse of magic into the now dying root systems. He only needed it to hold for a few seconds anyway. "Catch!" He launched the earth-caked ball directly at Snails' head with all his might.

Once again Snails focused his telekinesis on the incoming projectile, but as his magical aura reached out to it he realized too late that the magic bleeding from the network of roots made it nearly impossible to grasp. "Uh-oh." the modified ball struck with force enough to shatter the outer coating with a resounding CRACK!

FWEEEEEEEEEEEEFFffphlbppbp!

The ball flailed back and forth as it died on the young unicorn's horn. Finally bereft of air, the rubber sack collapsed over Snail's pain-stunned eyes. He toppled over a second later as one of the school-fillies screamed.

Silver sighed, glad that he had one less-

"GRAAAAAAAGHH!" Snips was an unstoppable train of rage and blubber as he shoulder tackled Silver to the ground. They rolled around in a tangle of limbs and snapping, flat teeth for several seconds. Finally the unicorn was able to use his superior bulk to secure the top position. Silver avoided or deflected several downward blows as he scrambled to get the heavier pony off of him, but whether by skill or luck Snips was too far up the earth pony's barrel to easily hook and lever off with the back hooves. An enhanced push with his forehooves might work, but tired as Silver was, he knew that would be the last of his magic reserves and it wasn't even a sure thing. That meant taking the more painful option.

Silver waited for the next strike and swiftly shot his own hoof out, entangling their two forelegs and pulling Snips down close. His second hoof began applying pressure to the unicorn's joint, hoping that his classmate would give before he had to break the leg. Angry as he was, Snips took several long seconds to register the pain, during which the now immobile Silver was forced to endure repeated pummeling strikes. At last Snips went with the pressure and tilted far enough to the side that Silver was able to roll the whole thing over. Now on top, he released his grapple and sent several blows down on the unicorn's face, bouncing the back of his head off the field repeatedly.

The earth pony was greedily sucking air as he leaned back, still sat on the unicorn's stomach. Sweat glistened on his withers, soaked his mane and ran down into his eyes. Blood lazily flowed from one nostril and gushed with each heartbeat from a cut on his lip. "You give?" he rasped.

It was then that Snips unfortunately remembered he was a unicorn, his aura grasping onto Silver and lifting him up before he could react. His magic was no where near as precise as Snails had been, but he had the benefit of being at peak and his target was nearing exhaustion. "Buck you!" Snips wasn't even sure what he was going to do with the earth pony at this point, but he wasn't about to let him win. He could float up there until Snips was ready to deal with him.

Silver gritted his teeth in frustration. "Stupid, stubborn jackass!" A final pump blasted the remainder of Silver's magic from his body, ripping the telekinesis aura that gripped him to shreds. Gravity brought four hooves and the earth pony's full weight slamming into Snip's soft stomach. The pudgy unicorn immediately rolled over onto his side and began vomiting, briefly interspersed by wracking sobs.

Silver rose from the grass, legs shaking but standing tall. By this time the school's colts had formed a rough circle, instinctively putting the largest and strongest members of the herd on the leading edge. They swept over their injured classmate and Silver let himself be pushed back.

The herd glared at him, and Silver glared back. "We clear?" he rasped defiantly. "Anypony else wants to try their luck? I will wreck you."

"You'll do no such thing, young colt." Cheerilee's voice had a hard edge to it as she stepped onto the scene behind several of the fillies. She was carrying a first aid kit which rattled with each of her steps. "Go to my office and wait. Now."

"Miss Cheerilee, it ain't what it looks like..." a filly spoke up. Silver recognized her as one of the three he'd talked to on his first day, the earth pony with the red bow in her hair. He wished he could remember her name.

"Don't bother." He cut the filly off, already turning to stiffly walk back to the schoolhouse. "I did the deed, I'll accept the consequences."

The teacher mentally groaned; it was only the second week and already there were two injured students! She prayed to the Sun that this was the worst she'd see this year, but she still felt a little thrill of dread whenever she looked at the new kid.

She shook her head to dispel the feeling. Cheerilee would deal with Silver Slice in a bit, but right now there were ponies in pain that needed her care.