The Arena

Chapter 4

Spirit was dimly aware of the sounds of battle going on outside of her room, but ignored them in favor of much needed sleep. When the adrenaline faded from her bloodstream she fell asleep promptly. When she woke, the cut on her cheek had scabbed over, but not before a large amount had soaked into her white sheets and fur. Spirit was mortified, such a large amount of the fluid keeping her alive had left her body. But there was nothing she could do now, so she just got up, left her room, and found the mess hall.

All conversation stopped as she walked in, but resumed quickly after. She sheepishly went over to where the food was being served and took a tray. She sat down at one of the long tables, in an empty corner. She was about halfway through her food when the crazy vesper, Crescent blade, sat down across from her.

“Hia! My name's Crescent blade, what's yours?”

Surprised, Spirit stuttered out her answer. “S-spirit Blossom.”

Crescent nodded. “Nice name. Hey, what are sou? I know you're not a changeling, they always have green magic, and they fire stuff you made was blue, so you can't be.”

Spirit didn't know why, but this pony made her nervous. “I'm an aetheric. I have complete control over the mana pathways in my body, and some control over those of others. Those pathways dictate everything, from your coat color, to how fast your heart beats, to your race. By manipulating them i can control everything in my body.”

Crescent nodded. “So a changeling puts on the image of another, while you actually change yourself to be like them?”

“Exactly.”

Crescent’s mouth stretched into a wide grin. “Can you become a vesper like me?”

Caught off guard, but thinking quickly, spirit nodded. “Sure, but I'd have to map your mana pathways, and that means i can become a vesper anytime.”

Crescent just nodded to agree. Spirit sighed and her hoof lit up in a blue aura. While earlier it had been like flames licking up her forehoof, now it was more of an aura surrounding it, staying close, but still extended out a bit. She placed in in his chest, before her eyes glowed with the same power. She took in every detail of his mana pathways, now visible to her, before pulling the hoof away. She took a step back and the white petals sprang up around her. She pushed and pulled on those mana pathways, recreating his within her own body. A set of fangs grew in, along with countless other changes. The petals fell away from around her, before she was revealed. She had successfully become a vesper.

Crescent clapped his hooves, along with a few other ponies. Spirit realised that everyone was staring at her, and she sheepishly sat down before finishing her meal in silence and running out of the Mess hall, back to her room, where she hid herself under the blood soaked sheets of her bed. She quickly changed back to a unicorn before falling asleep until the next morning.

Spirit woke at the proper time, before making her way to the meetup area. The battles worked in two day cycles, one set of contestants would fight on day one, with a second on day two, and back to the first on day three. Since she was in the first cycle, Spirit knew she wasn't going to be forced to fight. Instead she was told to go to the stands, and wait for the battles to start.

Half an hour later the first contestants walked into the arena. “Stone Edge VS. Sharp Blade,” the loudspeaker had announced. Spirit had been seen stone edge before, but Sharp Blade was a mystery. To her shock, the battle was incredibly one sided. Any talent that Sharp might've had was outclassed several magnitudes by Stone Edge, who was able to keep Sharp at a distance with his fire breath, block most attacks, with any that did got through his defense stopping as that hit the natural armor of his scales.

All it took was one misstep for Stone Edge to finish Sharp. He coughed up blood as his lungs were pierced, before slumping to the ground dead. Stone Edge walked out of the arena in a flawless victory, the only blood on him his opponent’s.

Most of the following battles followed a similar pattern, with each being quick, one sided battles. Stone Edge’s fight being by far the most interesting. Spirit shivered as she realised that these matches were just to get rid of the weak, and that the real fights would begin tomorrow.