Canterlot Academy Trials

In reality, it was more of a quick mid-air clash than a full on fight in the sky. Both Rufus and Odu had jumped off of the roof of the collapsed dojo and into the air, the tiger man cackling the entire time.

“Aha! I’ve not had a battle this fierce in ages! Finally, a worthy opponent!”

Rufus replied with nothing as he grit his teeth and blocked the tiger man’s oncoming punches before grabbing his arm, and flinging the abyssinian down towards the ground like a meteor. His overclocked body and heart pumping blood forcefully to every inch of himself rendered him unable to speak.

With a heavy THUD!, the tiger man hit the earth and left a crater behind as a result of the impact. Rufus reeled one of his hooves back, balling it into a fist as he fell towards the tiger like a speeding bullet, ready to strike…

BLAM!

And as soon as he did, Rufus managed to split the earth itself apart, creating a ruptured crack that went on for about a 100 yards…unfortunately though…

“...Hm?”

The yak felt nothing under his body. His target had disappeared. Did Odu manage to dodge in the nick of time--?

SLASH!

With a quick swipe, Odu’s claws cut through Rufus’ outer skin layer as he grabbed the yak and tossed him aside into the nearby fence, causing it to collapse under a hefty clatter of wood.

“...you’re strong, but lack experience,” he muttered as he paused to catch his breath for a moment on bended knee.

“Rufus!” Uziel squealed and ran over to the yak who had collapsed nearby from Odu’s throw, now bleeding profusely from his head as his enhanced ‘Force’ mode wore off. “Come on, talk to me, Rufus!” she yelped as she pushed and tugged against him with her little hands.

“D…Dammit…” Rufus let out a small chuckle, “...guess this is it, huh? I put everything I had into that and it wasn’t enough.”

“N-no…you did plenty,” Uziel added as she placed her hand on his cheek to console him while looking into his eyes, “But everyone’s pretty hurt. I think we’ll need to back outta here and regroup…”

Rufus looked over at her and noticed the stream of dried red that ran down from her nose and onto her green body. “...you’re bleeding. You struck me as tougher than that, Uzi.”

“S-stop joking you, dummy! I'm worried because…” she insisted with tears in her eyes as she playfully nudged him with her fist. “I…I love you, you know that?!”

“...” Rufus paused and turned over to smile at her. His vision was hazy, but he could see Uziel clearly. He stopped to take his hoof and wipe away some of her tears. “...Don’t cry. You look cuter when you’re smiling, Uzi. And…I love you too…”

“...Y-you fucking idiot!” Uziel blurted out before smooching him on the lips, “L-let’s hurry up and get--!”

“Excuse me,” Odu spoke up as he cleared his throat. “I don’t believe we’re…quite done yet.”

“You gotta be fucking shitting me!” Uziel roared as she grabbed her mace, “You’re still standing?! Motherfu--there’s more than one way to skin you, ya know!”

Odu chuckled at the old adage before coughing up a bit of blood into his paw. “Hmph! Cheeky…but you should know the battlefield…” And he suddenly started running at them, charging full speed on all fours! “...is no place for emotions!”

“Asshole! We’re having a moment here!”

“...U-Uzi, what’re you--?!” Rufus gasped, but before he could say anything else, the goblin girl had pushed him out of the way as she wound up her mace to strike the tiger charging at her.

“RRRRRAAAGH!”

Odu jumped into the air at the last second, priming his elbow for a hard drop upon the goblin who was ready to strike back…

CRACK--SQUISH!

“...U-Uzi!” Rufus sputtered as he coughed blood onto the ground as soon as he heard what sounded like bones breaking.

Once the dust settled, Odu was limping away from the scene with an open wound in his head from the mace striking him. “...I think that shall be enough for one night. I’ve seen what I’ve had to see. That feculent green scum of the earth got what she deserved...”

“Wh--?!” As much as he wanted to call out the abyssinian, Rufus immediately turned his attention to Uziel…or rather, what was left of her. “...Uzi?! UZIEL!?”

The end result? Uziel was lying there with half of her body broken and fully exposed. Oozing blood through her ribcage and staring blankly into the air.

“UZI!” Rufus whimpered in disbelief as he knelt next to her. “N-no…it should’ve been me…IT SHOULD’VE BEEN ME!”

Using the last of her energy before all of her senses went dark, the dying goblin turned her head to Rufus ever so slightly. “...Ru…fus….”

“U-Uzi?!”

As she lost the last of her blood, she’d reach her hand in his direction, grasp his face, and gave her final words. “T…ake…me…to…Eq…ues…tri…a….”

“...I…” Rufus’ body turned cold, staring at the dying goblin with tears welling in his eyes that he forcefully held back to keep his body from shaking as he lowered his voice to a whisper. “...I will…I promise…”

“...”

And with that, Uziel died right before his eyes, her expression going blank, and her heart stopping.

“...Uziel…” Rufus but his lip as he shut his eyes, repeating his newfound lover's name to himself...

Having witnessed the aftermath, the tired Jun Fang would scream in Odu’s direction, “...You…we have a score to--!”

“...Fang,” Spearklip interrupted him as she herded the broken monkey woman onto her back, “We have to leave. Now. You’re in no condition to keep this up.”

“Spear, we have to finish him off!” Fang argued, “This is our chance! We can’t let him escape.”

“Look at us,” the zebra commanded as she rubbed the side of her broken head, “...we…we’re out matched. We’d all just die here if we kept going…we have to pull back, Fang. We have casualties now.”

“...” The dog man looked over at the dead goblin, and noticed that the sun was rising. Odu was no longer in sight and chasing him down would prove to be near-impossible in their current state. Fang knew this, so he eventually had to concede.

“...Fine. We’re getting out of here. Fall back, Sigma. This mission was a failure.”