Fight!
Isaac walked along the path towards the meeting point with the dragon. As he looked towards the crystal blue sky he tried to focus on the challenge that lay ahead of him. He'd never even met a dragon before coming to Equestria much less know how to fight one. The man ran through several scenarios in his mind. He looked towards the clearing to see Spike sitting on a rock waiting for him. The dragon was chewing on a shard of sapphire.
"You're late." He spat out.
"Had to sneak by Dash." He said in a flat tone. Spike spat out the rock and got to his feet. The two stood, face to face. Isaac was only a little taller than Spike. Isaac used his foot to draw a line in the dirt. "Okay, so we're here to settle the incident with Rarity right?"
"Correct." Spike said.
"Okay, first to surrender or to be K.O.'d loses." Isaac said with a sigh. The man spit over the line he had drawn and the dragon did the same.The two circled one another for two turned before Spike lunged at him. Isaac rushed forward and slammed his fist into Spike's face. The dragon didn't even budge as the man felt pain in his hand. He looked to see his that his knuckles were bleeding.
"Thick scales idiot." Spike said as he slammed his fist into the man's gut. Isaac felt his bones creak at the hardness of the scales. The man staggered back and pulled out his knife. The man threw it at the dragon who kept still. As the metal blade came into contact with Spike's arm, the metal snapped in half. "My turn." Spike said as he arched his fingers. Isaac gulped as the dragon's nails grew longer and looked like sharpened knives.
The dragon lunged forwards and slashed the man across the chest. Isaac could feel the nails dig into his skin. The human quickly backed away and withdrew the knife he had entered Equestria with. He took it by the handle and aimed right at the dragon. Isaac threw the weapon. The blade spun end over end as it got closer to the dragon. Spike grunted and caught the diamond blade between his teeth.
The dragon applied more pressure to the bite and broke the blade between his teeth. Isaac stood stunned as he watched the teenage dragon chomp on the remains of the blade. The man gulped and panted. Isaac charged and slammed his fist into the dragon's under belly which caused Spike to curdle a little bit.
So that's your weak point. He thought as the dragon stood back up. The dragon jumped and tried to slam both clenched fists down on the man. Isaac caught the arms at the wrists and was struggling to hold him. Spike wasn't stronger than him but his scales were definitely thick enough to stop a knife.
As the two were dead locked Isaac noticed the drake's cheeks becoming larger and a small trail of smoke was coming from his nostrils. He put the pieces together and leaned back, just in time to avoid a massive ball of green flame. He could feel the heat coming from the fire ball. As Isaac leaned back he rolled over and took the dragon with him. Spike grunted as he was flipped onto his back and the man delivered a quick elbow drop to his ribs.
Isaac quickly got to his feet and heard a whooshing sound from above. He squinted enough just to make out the shape of a familiar grey Pegasus mare with a messenger bag rocketing towards Ponyville. As he looked ahead he saw that Spike had regained his ground and was now fuming with rage. Isaac got in an offensive position and charged.
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Twilight sat with Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Rarity at Sweet Apple Acres. Twilight face palmed as Rarity finished her story.
"Oh my Celestia Rarity what were you thinking?" Twilight yelled. "You had just broken up with Spike and then you just sleep with Isaac!"
"Yeah Rare's." Dash said. "I mean, you could have given it a little more time."
"You think that breaking up with Spike was easy?" The mare protested. "I was in a very emotional state."
"What about Isaac?" Applejack asked. "The poor guy just found out that his folks adopted him and never said a word. He was probably in a more sensitive state then you were." The farmer said with a frown. "Hey Twi, where's Spike at anyhow?"
"He asked for the afternoon off. I figured that he wanted some time alone." She said with a sigh.
"Twilight!" The lavender mare's ears perked up and looked up to see a familiar grey mail mare racing towards them. Ditzy landed in front of the group and panted. "You.....gotta...listen."
"Slow down there sally." The farmer said as she handed her a bottle of water. "Deep breath." The grey mare hastily drank the water and collected her thoughts.
"You gotta come quick it's an emergency!" She yelled.
"What's wrong?"
"Isaac and Spike are going head to head in the gem field!." The four mares gasped and looked at one another. "I was just coming back from dropping off Fluttershy's mail when I saw them going at it. You gotta come quick."
"Mac!" Applejack yelled. The hulking red stallion hurried out of the barn. "Spike and Isaac are butting heads and we need yer muscle."
"Eeyup." The cyan mare then took flight and followed the mail mare as the group ran towards the fields.
"Think Spike will be okay?" Applejack asked.
"I'm more concerned about Isaac." Twilight said.
"Why?" Dash said as she flew down, keeping pace next to her friends. "We've seen Isaac fight."
"Yes, but Spike is a dragon. His scales are thicker than steel." The mares all gulped. "Not to mention he can breathe fire."
"I doubt Spike would go that far." Rarity said.
"Wrong." Ditzy said. The group all looked up at the grey mare. "When they were deadlocked Spike almost burned Isaac's face off." That was all the motivation Dash needed to book it and rocketed towards the fields.
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Isaac was panting heavily. His shirt had been torn to shreds by the dragon's claws and was bleeding profusely. Thanks to dragon's natural resistance to magic his healing ability's were slowed exponentially. The man was also severely burned on his right arm and upper chest area. His left eyes was black and blue from Spike's dense fists. Spike's under stomach was heavily bruised and he had some blood coming from his mouth.
The two charged at one another again and slammed their fists against each other. Spike twirled around and tried to strike the man with his tail. The man grabbed the appendage and threw Spike against the ground. The dragon quickly got up and fired a few fire balls at the man. Isaac quickly dodged them and picked up a nearby rock and chucked it at the dragon. Spike slammed his fist and shattered the rock just in time to see Isaac's hand glow a bright blue and slam him in the face.
The force sent the dragon back a good three feet before regaining his balance.
I told you to stay out of this! He yelled at himself.
You need my power if you want to win. Moon's voice said.
I'm not trying to win. Now scram. He yelled as he dodged another blast of green fire. The two looked to the right and saw the group of ponies running towards them. Twilight gasped as she looked at her dragon assistant. She'd never seen him so ferocious. The hulking red stallion charged forward trying to separate the two.
"Stay out of this!" The two combatants yelled as they each delivered a powerful punch to the stallion's gut. Mac felt the force and grunted as he was thrown back towards the group.
"Mac!" Applejack said as she helped her brother sit up. Applejack was about to charge in but was stopped by the red stallion grabbing her arm.
"AJ, these two need to settle this."
"Are ya crazy?"
"Look at how Isaac is fighting." He said as he pointed towards the human who got slashed by another claw. Twilight struggled to watch and noticed that the human was acting strangely. "He could have easily dodged that, but took it anyway."
"H-he's letting Spike hit him." The scholar said. The red farmer nodded as he slowly stood up. Isaac felt his vision starting to blur and something screamed int the back of his mind. Words. Words he knew only form one place. Spike started to fill his cheeks with green flame when Isaac felt the magic inside him well up and was ready to be unleashed. The young drake let loses a massive fireball at the man.
"FUS ROH DAH!" The man yelled. A massive shockwave hit the fireball and extinguished the flames while sending the dragon flying back. The group of mares felt the force from the blast and struggled to stay on their feet. Isaac looked down at his hands and saw that they were glowing bright blue. He shook off the magical energy and watched as Spike got to his feet. Isaac felt as though someone had poured acid down his throat and started to cough.
Spike and the human locked eyes and gave one last charge. The dragon and human clenched their fists and landed the blows right in each other's faces. The force from the punches launched both fighters back. The two fell down on their back and panted as they looked up at the sky.
The human slowly got to his feet and hobbled over to the dragon. Twilight and the others ran forwards to hopefully stop the man. Spike shut his eyes as he waited for the man's finishing blow. He opened his eyes to see the man offering his hand. The dragon was confused as he took the hand. Isaac helped him up and panted.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, you?" Spike asked.
"Look, I'm sorry about what happened." Isaac said with a sigh. "I'd change it if I could." Spike shrugged and grunted.
"I know you would." Spike said with a sigh. "But you still broke your promise to me." Isaac hung his head in shame. "I just...I just need to think things over." The man nodded in agreement as they walked back towards the group. Twilight ran up to them and slapped them both across the face.
"Jeez Twi, I'm beaten up enough. Show some sympathy." Isaac said as he rubbed the red handprint on his face.
"What is wrong with you two?" She yelled.
"I said that we worked something out and low and behold, we did." Isaac said as he crossed his arms. Twilight gripped her mane and glared at the dragon.
"You are in a lot of trouble mister." She scolded. "I can't believe that you used fire against him!"
"Twi if it means anything then I challenged him." Isaac stated. "I figured I'd let him get his emotions out rater than bottling them up and the best way to do that is to beat the living shit out of something." Twilight glared at the human who gulped. "Please don't kill me." He quickly stated.
"Seriously Spike. Overkill." Dash said.
"Dash, lay off." Isaac said as he glared at the mare. "Spike was in the right and I deserved every bit of pain I got." He said with a sigh.
"But-"
"I'll admit that it wasn't all my fault." He said as he glared at the white mare.
"Me?" She asked.
"Yes, you." He said as he frowned at he mare. "I willingly opened up to you Rarity and you used that to get me into bed. I gotta tell ya, that is low." He said as he shook his head.
"Oh and you're Mr. Perfect is that it?" She yelled.
"I'm far from perfect Rarity. I know that and I will admit that in my younger days I did some stupid shit to get laid, but I have never manipulated people's feelings like that." The white Unicorn gulped. "If that's who you really are, then I think that it's better if we just remain acquaintances." The group fell silent as the man walked by the group. "See ya around Spike." He said with a wave.
The dragon just grunted at the words. As Isaac continued to walk away he felt the pain from the small match take it's toll. The man stumbled forwards and struggled to keep his balance. Twilight hurried up to him and her hands glowed a faint purple.
"Hang on." Twilight said as the two vanished in a flash of purple light. The two appeared outside Isaac's home.
"Thanks for the lift." He said as he walked up to his door. The mare vanished in a flash of light. As he opened the door he saw the familiar form of Princess Luna napping on his couch.
Oh this is too perfect! He thought with a mustache twirling grin. He quietly made his way into the downstairs bathroom and pulled out a can of shaving cream and a long feather. He silently put the white cream in the mare's left hand and started to tickle her nose with the feather. The mare lightly brushed her nose with her bare hand.
The man frowned and tickled her again. This time the mare flat out slapped herself in the face with the cream covered hand. Luna's eyes snapped open and heard the man roar in laughter. "Oh you can't beat the classics!"
"Wretch!" She yelled as she levitated the man up by his ankles. "Prepare to face our-" The lunar Princess then noticed the man's mangled appearance. "By our sister's beard! What happened to you?"
"Mind putting me down?" The Princess did and looked at him with worry in her eyes.
"What happened?"
"Spike and I got into a little scuffle." He said with a sigh. Luna looked at him in surprise. "It's a long story." The blue mare walked over and wiped her face off with some paper towels.
"You can tell me as I heal you." Isaac was about to protest but was shot down as he looked into the lunar Princess's piercing blue eyes. He let the mare use a few healing spells on him as he told her about his parent's secret, how he broke a promise to the young dragon and the fight. He decided to keep the bits about the Changeling and Nightmare Moon to himself.
"Why did you let Spike beat you up?" She asked as she continued to pour her magic into him.
"He needed to take out his aggression on something." Isaac said. "I figured since I was the root of the problem that it would be the best for him."
"He could have killed you." She protested.
"Nah, Spike may have been pissed, but I doubt that he wanted to kill me." He said as his black eye vanished. "Besides, I broke my promise. The least I can do is give him the pleasure of kicking the shit out of me."
"You got hurt!"
"Believe me, I've been through worse." He said as he stood up. Luna looked at his exposed chest and placed her hand on it to heal the newly formed cuts. Isaac felt the tingling sensation on his skin and bit his lip. He saw the mare's eyes looking over his mangled body. "I was captured."
"Huh?" She asked.
"During my time in the Marines, we were fighting some rebels." He said with a sigh. "My squad and I were captured and they tried to force information out of us." The mare gasped at the words. "Needless to say, we made it difficult for them."
"So they," The mare could barely form the words. "tortured you?"
"Yeah," Isaac said. "I was the only one who made it out alive." He then gave a small chuckle. "Figures, the talentless hack is the one who made it."
"What?"
"Each member of my team had something that made them special. Gizmo could hack through anything. Kickback was a genius with explosives. Hawk eye was our sniper and could shoot the wings off a fly. We had this medic who's name was Dufresne, but we just called him Doc. He could patch up anything from a papercut to a blown of leg." He said with a small chuckle. "Then you have me." He said with a sigh. "I was known for stepping on a land mine and almost blowing my balls off."
"They had some odd names." Luna said as she moved to heal his back.
"They were just nicknames we called each other around the base."
"What was yours?"
"Zerum." He said in a flat tone.
"Sounds interesting."
"It's Latin for zero, meaning nothing." Luna gulped. "I was the General's son so everyone expected a lot from me and when I couldn't meet the expectations I got called Zero. My Drill Sargent had a thing for the Latin language so he called me Zerum, the name stuck."
"They hated you?" She asked in shock.
"I wouldn't go as far as to say hate." He said as she put a hand on his right shoulder. "Mostly just.....resented the fact that I didn't earn my place." Luna cocked an eyebrow. "My dad got me in and gave me....special treatment and I hated him for it."
"Why?"
"I didn't want his help. I wanted to prove it to myself that I could do it on my own." He said in a flat tone.
"I'm sure he did it out of love."
"That's debatable." He said with a sigh. "On a side note, what are you doing here? Our match isn't for another couple of days." The mare bit her lip and let out a sigh.
"We need your help."
"With?"
"We request your help with becoming better at this Halo game."
"Asking your opponent for advice?" He said with a smug grin. Luna blushed and snarled at the man. "Fine, let me start it up." He booted up the game and got two controllers. Luna snapped her fingers and a customized navy blue controller with her Cutie Mark on the right handle. "Where'd you get that?"
"Thou are forgetting that we are a goddess. Manipulating colors on a device such as this is trivial." She said with a grin.
"Okay." He booted up a custom map labeled, 'Training.' "First off, what's your controller sensitivity on?"
"Ten, so that we may earn the most points!" Isaac face palmed and sighed.
"My god you're a noob."
"A what?"
"A newbie, rookie, beginner. Take your pick." Luna frowned at the words. "Bank the sensitivity back down to three."
"That's the default! What's yours on?"
"Four, but I am more experienced and I'm more comfortable using it." Luna grunted and did as he asked. The training started. "Good, now go pick up a sniper rifle." Luna's avatar was a purple female Spartan with the recon helmet equipped. "See if you can shoot the cones off the crates without using the zoom." Luna missed the first several shots and went through four clips of ammo before hitting the crate.
"Ugh! This is impossible!" She yelled.
"Princess of the night giving up?" He said with a grin.
"Never!" She yelled as she threw her controller down and crossed her arms.
"Look, It's been a really, really long day for me." He aid with a sigh. "Think we could do this another time?"
"Very well, we hope that you manage to patch things up." She said with a nod. The lunar Princess then vanished in a flash of blue light. Isaac walked up to his bathroom and took a steaming hot shower. He let the warm water wash over his damaged body. Luna may have closed the wounds but the pain was still faintly there. He laid down in his bed and let sleep take him.