In Pursuit of...

Chapter 14: Igniting the Fire: Part II

Mecha dropped his bag of weapons on the ground, spilling blades of all sorts everywhere.

“Right,” he said to the ponies gathered around him, “I want all of you to pick a weapon you feel suits yourself, while Nimbus and I demonstrate how this is going to work.”

The ponies began picking through the bag’s contents. “Do I have to do this?” Fluttershy asked meekly, “I’d rather just sit out.”

Nimbus shook his head. “Not unless you want to end up defenseless against Eclipse.”

“Oh dear,” said Fluttershy, hovering down to the bag.

“Now then,” said Mecha, “Twilight, come forward please.”

Twilight stepped forward, horn glowing.

“Good,” said Mecha, “I see you’re ready to go.” He turned back to the smoking field. “Now if you’d kindly cast the ‘arena’ spell…”

Twilight sent a beam of magic out from her horn, which enveloped the field and surrounded everyone with their own magical field. Within seconds, the glowing magic was gone.

“What just happened?” Nimbus asked.

“Twilight has created an illusion,” Mecha explained. “Inside this illusion, we can engage in combat, and practice our skills without actually getting hurt.” He turned to the ponies. “Allow Nimbus and I to demonstrate, now, how to properly fight with bladed weapons.”

“Wait, what?” Nimbus asked. Mecha didn’t answer. Instead, the end of his mechanical foreleg turned into a sword, and he swung for Nimbus. The Pegasus barely had time to lift off the ground, extend his blades, and block the hit.

“And now the fun begins,” said Mecha.

He swung again, and once more, Nimbus blocked the hit, feeling the full force of the impact. Mecha had a good swing. Back and forth they traded blows, each blocking the other. Finally, Nimbus realized he had an advantage. He boosted himself over and behind Mecha with his wings, bringing in a hit with both blades. Mecha blocked one, but Nimbus’s left blade glanced off of his shoulder, drawing blood.

“Oh, it’s on now,” Mecha grinned, shoving Nimbus away. Nimbus lost balance and fell onto his back. Seeing his chance, Mecha leaped into the air with his sword pointed down at Nimbus. Nimbus saw him coming and rolled out of the way just as Mecha’s sword dug into the ground right where his head had been. Nimbus breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed. It was only for a fraction of a second, but it was the chance Mecha was looking for. He drew his blade out of the ground and sliced across Nimbus’s back left leg. Nimbus groaned, and stepped back, hovering once more, and panting.

“It seems we are at a draw,” said Mecha. He turned back to everyone else. “Right, you saw what we just did. Now split up into groups. We’re going to start with warm-ups, so all Pegasi go with Nimbus. I’ll take everyone who’s a ground fighter.

Nimbus was about to berate Mecha for wounding him when he realized that the cut on his leg was gone. He did a double-take, then realized what had happened.

“It’s an illusion, of course,” he mumbled to himself.

He walked over to the bag and grabbed the extra sheathes, throwing them to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.

“Put these on,” he said, "and hit the switches on the sides to extend the blades.”

Slowly, the two strapped the sheathes onto their forelegs. Nimbus had to give Fluttershy a little extra coaching, and as soon as she was secure, she began to shake uncontrollably.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” said Rainbow Dash, “this is gonna be fun! We get to beat the hay out of Nimbus here.”

“Oh,” said Fluttershy, “but I really don’t want to. I’m not that kind of-“

“Okay, looks like you’re both good to go,” said Nimbus. “Here’s what we’re going to do. That ravine-“ he said, pointing to the crack in the earth nearby, “is where we’ll conduct this exercise. The name of this exercise is ‘two on one evasion.’ Essentially, two ponies are the aggressors, and the other is the evader. It’s the evader’s job to do whatever he or she can to avoid getting taken down by the aggressors. Sound simple enough?”

The two nodded.

“Good, then team up, because I’m the first evader.”

Nimbus shot up into the sky.

“Oh no you don’t!” Rainbow Dash shouted, rocketing after him. Fluttershy slowly hovered off the ground, following the others.

“Wait, I’m coming too,” she mumbled.

Nimbus was climbing at his top speed, but he could see Rainbow Dash was catching up easily. He broke through cloud cover, then peeled off to the right, diving for the ground. Rainbow Dash emerged from the clouds shortly afterwards, barely catching sight of Nimbus as he disappeared through the same clouds. She extended her blades and dove after him. Nimbus saw her, and laughed. Speed was not going to win this for her. He dove into the ravine and began to fly low, “hugging the ground” and banking left and right smoothly, throwing in a roll every now and then. Rainbow Dash was forced to slow down to stay on his tail. Suddenly, Nimbus dove down farther, skimming over the surface of a river at the ravine’s bottom, kicking up a fantail of water in Rainbow Dash’s face. She flinched, squinting to try to see her opponent, and that was when Nimbus played his trump card.  He pulled up sharply, extending his wings and braking at the same time. Rainbow Dash had no time to react, only able to watch as she shot under Nimbus, putting him on her tail. The balance of power had shifted. Now she was being pursued.

Seeing his chance, Nimbus immediately attempted a burst of speed, but his actions were in vain. Rainbow Dash shot up and out of the canyon, leaving him far behind. Obviously, getting behind her and catching up was not going to work. Nimbus sighed. He glanced back at the ravine’s edge. Fluttershy was there, hovering and watching the action. When she saw Nimbus looking at her, she attempted to look like she was participating, extending her left blade. Unfortunately, the blade surprised her, and she fell back, letting out an “eep.”

Nimbus smacked himself in the face. It seemed his plans for an organized two on one match were pretty much toast. “Fine,” he thought , “if it’s a dogfight Rainbow Dash wants, then it’s a dogfight she’ll get.”

…

Mecha watched the Pegasi take to the air, then turned to his “students.”

“Okay,” he said, “first thing’s first- I’d like you all to show me your weapons.”

Applejack was the first to step forward, sporting a large knife, which she showed to Mecha.

“Hm,” said Mecha, “a Bowie knife… not bad at all. In fact, it kind of suits you. Next.”

Rarity stepped forward, holding two gleaming, thin daggers. She twirled them around once using her magic. “Aren’t they the most gorgeous things?” she asked.

Mecha groaned. “That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind when I made them, but… okay. I can see you wielding stilettos. Who’s next?”

Twilight Sparkle was the next to step forward, horn glowing.

“What, no weapon?” Mecha asked.

“Wrong,” said Twilight, unleashing a massive blast of magic from her horn and vaporizing a tree just outside the clearing.

“Okay, then,” said Mecha, quite impressed, “battle magic works. Pinkie Pie, what about you?”

Just like Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie had no weapon. Mecha frowned.

“Am I to assume that you don’t have a weapon either?”

“Nope, I do!” Pinkie replied, cheerfully whipping a cannon from out of nowhere. Mecha was somewhat amazed by this feat.

“So what do you plan on doing with that?”

“This!” Pinkie squealed, nailing Mecha with a powerful blast of confetti. Mecha was hurled about twenty feet skyward and landed on his back.

“Ow,” he groaned, “yeah, that’ll do.”

He got up onto his hind legs and brushed himself off, standing tall now. “Alright then, I want each of you in turn to try to attack me. Applejack’s first!”

Applejack stepped forward, brandishing her knife. She feinted left, then ducked right and swung at Mecha. Mecha, however, was too fast for her, and moved out of the way, countering with a downward strike. Applejack was ready, parrying his stroke, but the force knocked her back. Mecha drove forward relentlessly, forcing Applejack backwards until she lost her footing and tripped. Mecha swung his sword leg down, stopping less than an inch away from her throat.

“Not bad, but watch your footing next time,” he said. “You seem to have a good feel for that knife.”

Applejack nodded and got to her feet, shaking. Rarity was the next one to step up. Nimbus nodded, and she lunged at him, twirling the stilettos everywhere. She was agile, dodging Mecha’s sword strokes with ease. In fact, she very nearly landed a hit on him. Unfortunately for her, Mecha landed a blow on one of the stilettos that sent it flying out of reach. He then grazed her side with the sword, and Rarity stepped back.

“Rarity, you’re doing well, but make sure you always have a hold of your weapons. You lose your weapons, you lose your life.”

Rarity nodded as her wound healed back up, and was replaced by Twilight Sparkle.

“Magic,” said Mecha, “now this should be interesting.”

Twilight fired a beam of magic at Mecha, but it stopped right in front of him.

“Huh?” Twilight said, confused.

“You forget, Twilight Sparkle,” said Mecha, grinning as magic, black as his coat surrounded his body, turning his eyes a deep black, “I have magic of my own.”

“Son of a Manticore,” Twilight swore, as Mecha released a wave of energy. When the dust cleared, a dazed Twilight found herself in a rut up to her neck, with a furrow at least fifty feet long in front of her.

“What happened?” she moaned.

“Always expect a counterattack,” Mecha replied. Finally, it was Pinkie’s turn.

“No mercy for you,” said Mecha, “I’ve seen what you can-“

“Pow!” Pinkie nailed Mecha in the face with a blast of confetti from a party whistle. Mecha coughed, spitting out little shreds of colorful paper. By the time his vision was clear, Mecha found himself staring down the barrel of the party cannon again. He frowned and sighed.

“Not aga-“

He had no time to finish his statement, though, because he was once again launched into the air by the confetti blast.

“Right,” he said, picking himself up and shaking off the colorful confetti, “I am not falling for that again. I think it’s time we started this thing.”

“Started? What do you mean?” Rarity asked, “haven’t we started already?”

“Oh no,” said Mecha, pulling another sword out of the bag and strapping it to his back, while standing up on his back legs- his normal fighting stance, “we’ve only started. Now it gets serious.”

“Hold on a sec,” said Twilight, “why do you suddenly get two swords? Is that really fair?”

Mecha shrugged. “It’s how I fight. If you’ve got a problem with it, conjure up one for yourself out of thin air!”

Twilight snorted.

“And now,” said Mecha, taking out a small spherical object from the weapons bag and tossing it in the air, “let the games begin! It’s everypony for himself… or herself… whatever, just fight!”

The sphere exploded, creating a bright flash and a loud noise. Nopony could have missed it; not even the Pegasi.

…

Nimbus was trying to get a good approach angle on Rainbow Dash, and was only becoming confused when the explosion went off. He looked towards the ground and saw the ponies below rushing at each other. Clearly, this had become a free-for-all. Nimbus angled himself for the dive… and narrowly missed being skewered by a determined Rainbow Dash.

“Dang!” Nimbus exclaimed, following Rainbow Dash back down to the fight. Rainbow was heading for an unsuspecting Rarity, but Nimbus decided to give the fashion-obsessed pony a chance. He sprinted ahead, and sharply turned in front of Rainbow Dash, cutting her off and forcing her to correct her flight path.

“You’ll pay for that!” Rainbow Dash spat.

“Come and get me, then!” Nimbus taunted, rolling and pulling skyward. Rainbow Dash streaked after him, blades out. There would be blood in the air, she decided, and it wouldn’t be hers.

Below, Mecha saw the two coming. Too high to hit, but perhaps… He ducked as Applejack took a swing at him, and jumped back, balancing nimbly on his back legs. Perfect. As Rainbow Dash and Nimbus flew over, the wingwash surprised a few of the ponies, and Mecha was instantly back in the fight, spinning and lashing out like a devil with his two swords. Twilight fired a blast of magic his way, and he dodged, the magic impacting Pinkie Pie instead, who was preparing to nail him with an oversized party popper.

“Ha!” Mecha shouted as Pinkie stood up, confused, “serves you right for that cannon trick!”

He ducked, hearing the swishing of a blade behind him, and stabbed upwards, narrowly missing Rarity. Applejack had gone after Pinkie, but Twilight had stayed behind. It seemed she and Rarity had organized a temporary truce to take Mecha down. Mecha smiled grimly. He wasn’t going down today- not here.

Nimbus tried rolling left and right, diving in and out of clouds, but nothing worked. Rainbow Dash had locked herself onto his tail a few minutes ago, and she was still there, and gaining. Nimbus couldn’t think of anything else to do- he’d just about run out of options. He swerved right hard, turning inside Rainbow Dash’s larger turning circle. “Good,” he thought, “that’ll give me some space!”

He looked back. Rainbow Dash was nowhere to be seen. He’d lost her.

Or so he thought.

Without warning, she came from above, using the sun to disguise her position. Nimbus reacted, pulling a “Split S” towards the ground- a maneuver which involved rolling onto his back and pulling back in a half-loop towards the ground. Rainbow Dash overshot him again, and he regained his position as aggressor. He had to admit- she’d be a lot easier to track if he was wearing his issued helmet. The thing was incredible- it could estimate a most probable flight pattern and plot intercept points- but he’d have to do without, and that was fine with him. The old-fashioned way was good enough. He saw her wings begin to dip left, and anticipated her next maneuver, banking left. Sure enough, Rainbow Dash turned left, and Nimbus saw his chance. It was just a scratch, really, but he managed to get a blade across her left front leg. Rainbow Dash gasped in surprise. Now Nimbus knew how to beat her. She viciously streaked skyward, leaving Nimbus behind. Nimbus lost sight of her, but knew exactly what was coming next. Waiting for the telltale sound of wingwash, he began to climb, remembering not to look directly towards the sun. When he heard the sound of Rainbow Dash’s approach, he knew exactly what to do. He picked up his speed instantly, rocketing straight up, blades out. Though he couldn’t see her, he knew Rainbow Dash was doing the same. He also knew she was using the same attack pattern as before: coming from out of the sun. He was ready this time. She appeared suddenly, and Nimbus reacted within a split second. He pulled up slightly, and braked, throwing himself into a tight backflip at the same time, raking both his blades down Rainbow Dash’s side, from her neck to her flank, severing an important nerve ending and locking her wings up from shock. Rainbow Dash went rigid and plummeted straight for the ground, the surprise of a defeated foe evident on her face. Nimbus gave a quick salute.

“See you on the other side, sister flyer… or in about five minutes, I guess.”

He then dove for the ground, eager for a piece of the action to be had on the surface.

…

As far as surface action was concerned, things were really starting to heat up. Applejack was desperately trying to land a hit on Pinkie Pie, but every time she got close enough, she took confetti to the face and was blown backwards. Mecha, on the other hand, was still fighting Twilight and Rarity. They proved a formidable duo, Twilight using magic in attempt to distract Mecha while Rarity leaped in for the kill. Mecha’d suffered a few scratches, and he was thoroughly fed-up by now. He lashed out at Twilight, using his sword leg to distract her while he stabbed with his other sword. Twilight avoided the hit- but barely. Mecha didn’t relent, however, kicking Rarity back as she came closer and making a final move at Twilight, thrusting his first sword into the ground, kicking her, and finishing with a quick stroke to her chest. Twilight went down instantly. Mecha turned to face Rarity- and got the surprise of his life.

The white mare was approaching, flipping her stilettos (by Luna, she loved those things!) and grinning like a maniac. She raised one of the knives, preparing to strike, when she was hit by what Mecha could only describe at the time as a veritable bolt from the blue. Rainbow Dash, bleeding down the length of her body landed in a heap on top of Rarity, practically crushing her. Rarity let out a short “oof” and went limp, obviously unconscious.

Rainbow Dash groaned, struggling to keep her eyes open. “Does that count as mine?”

Mecha went over to Rarity and had a good look. She was definitely out, and not going anywhere for a while.

“I’d say it does,” he said finally, “good job.”

Rainbow Dash smiled weakly. “I’m bleeding out, aren’t I?”

Mecha nodded. “Eeyup.”

“Dang it,” she said.

“Yeah,” Mecha said, “looks like Nimbus really did a number on you.”

“Shut up,” Rainbow Dash half growled- half croaked as she passed out.

“Well that was interesting,” Mecha said, turning to where the rest of the fight was. He’d pretty much given up on Fluttershy, and it seemed Nimbus had as well. Still, he had a score to settle with Pinkie, and Applejack was making absolutely no progress against her. Mecha bolted towards the action, jumping right into the fray. Pinkie instinctively turned the cannon towards him, but Mecha was ready. Right before the cannon went off, he kicked it, rotating the barrel right towards Pinkie Pie.

“Oops!” Pinkie Pie giggled, as the cannon went off in her face, sending her flying. Mecha jumped up onto the canyon, using it to propel himself high into the sky and down onto Pinkie, putting his sword straight into her chest.

“Aw,” she said, not showing any pain. “I guess you got me. Oh well, fair’s fair!” She grinned, then passed out in the blink of an eye.

“No fair,” said Applejack, brandishing her knife at Mecha, “she was mine.”

Mecha shrugged. “I had a score to settle. Do you know how annoying it is to get hit in the face with that cannon?”

Applejack frowned. “You have no idea. Now let’s get this over with. I’ve got some flank to kick!”

“Right,” Mecha snorted. “So sure?”

Applejack was caught off-guard by Mecha’s statement. One would normally have dismissed it as banter, but he seemed genuine for some reason…

Suddenly an orange streak plowed into the ground, skidding through the dirt right in front of Applejack and stopping a few feet away. Applejack looked down incredulously at the perfectly straight cut across her neck.

“Haystacks,” she swore right before collapsing, unconscious.

Nimbus wiped his blades off on the grass and faced Mecha.

"You fight standing up?"

"Yeah," Mecha said, "so?"

"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen!"

"Well then explain how I'm supposed to use two swords on all fours! I can't fly, you know!"

Nimbus was silent.

"That's what I thought," said Mecha.

“Who’s left?”

Mecha furrowed his brow, thinking.

“Let’s see- you, me, and Fluttershy.”

“Well, between you and I, I think we already know how it’s going to end.”

Mecha nodded, “with swords through each other’s chests at exactly the same time?”

“Right,” said Nimbus. “The thing is- I just can’t go after Fluttershy.”

“Why not?” Mecha asked, “this is all just an illusion!”

“I know,” said Nimbus, scuffing the ground with his hoof, “but she’s… she’s Fluttershy! Come on, let’s just make it a no-contact, nonlethal takedown.”

Mecha rolled his eyes. “Fine. I think I’ve got an idea anyway.”

…

Fluttershy was shaking at the edge of the ravine- where she’d been the entire time. Her eyes darted around wildly, trying to spot trouble before it appeared. As it turned out, her actions didn’t help in the slightest. A cold, metal point tapped her on the back of her shoulder. She squeaked in surprise and turned around. Behind her was Nimbus, hovering with his blades out, and Mecha, standing tall with his twin swords.

“Boo,” said Mecha.

Fluttershy’s eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground in a heap, completely unconscious.

“See?” said Nimbus, “no violence and the treat is neutralized.”

“Chalk another one up for me, then,” said Mecha.

“Hold on!” Nimbus said, “I tapped her on the shoulder!”

“Well I said ‘boo’!”

Nimbus groaned. Forget it. Let’s just call that a self-KO. Maybe that’ll get Fluttershy a few points, even if it was herself she took out.

They turned back to the field, watching everyone else slowly standing, wounds healing magically. Mecha turned to Nimbus.

“Think they’re ready?”

Nimbus smiled and narrowed his eyes determinedly.

“Oh yes,” he said. “I think we’ve got enough spirit and skill here to send Eclipse packing. He’ll wish he’d never set hoof in Equestria. Now let’s get that scroll and figure out where we’re headed. From here on out, it’s war.”

Note: Credit for the "Arena" spell goes to Itchy (again) who used the spell primarily in his story, "Returning Survivor."