Through the haze of anger swirling around the dunskin and dog, the blather of tactics from either side was faintly heard. The only one Ricochet had the sense of mind to listen to was Paladin's voice. It fed his fire, setting his tail to lash as his body coiled in anxious restraint. He wished to carelessly abandon the ideals of the Valiant, but a more intelligent part of him reigned over the arrogance and the pettiness.

It began with a cold silence so unlike him that for a moment Ricochet was dismayed and even more furious at the anticlimactic start. Ice spikes his mind seethed, hot as dragon's fire as his body crackled with the urge to ignite.

They came for him them.

The brothers of black charged like hideous bulls through the mist. At first Ricochet did not see them, but he could sense them, could feel them as their large hooves beat thunder into the sky that was the grassy terrain. His body steeled against their approach, an unlikely stance for this warrior, but he would earn no victory running through clouds when so many swords danced about. Teal eyes glanced down at the collie by his side. Guns returned the stare and quietly slunk off into the distance, swallowed up by the fog.

Ricochet grinned just as the tips of their horns shredded the veil.

They were significantly larger than he and with forward momentum driving them the force of their impact would be truly noteworthy. Yet their size did not instill fear in the young stud. They would take longer to lug those oafish bodies about while he would turn neatly beneath their noses. He noted too, nearly with an amused snort at the ridiculousness of it, that their horns were even uglier than the normal. Rather than the single spear driving up through their brains, they wore what nearly seemed a second set of deformed ears.

Just before the distance between them closed a shadow drifted over the land, small and shrinking in this afternoon sun and with the descending pegasus MIDAS. The painted steed drifted down, his hooves kicking up a curtain of dust which the black duo was running straight towards, and then the bird was off again. Normally Ricochet would not appreciate such interference, least of all from a winged monster, but his mind was churning too quickly with the need to destroy to be bothered with such nuances.

The dust shimmered to black, and then it detonated.

"I AM THE INCENDIARY, RICOHEEEEET!" he cried as he surged forward just as the last sparks of fire died out. He could not see a thing with the curtain of explosions covering them, but the anticipation could not be contained any more. With MIDAS and then MADYRN driving in so close, Ricochet couldn't be sure they'd escape the boom either, not that he much cared. Get in his way and you'd get burned, plain and simple.

A horn tore a red line along his left shoulder as LUCIOUS breezed past him. It was not deep but the blood was eager to spill over. For now though the pain did not settle in, the appearance worse than anything with the superficial scrape. It brought a snarl to Ricochet's tattered face all the same, his right hind popping up in a sideways cow-kick aimed to snap at LUCIOUS' left hind limb as they passed. It was purely from reaction so it had little aim put into it, not that he could see through the smoke anyway, but quick as as it was there was a liable chance it would land. Haunches dipped now as Ricochet leaned back onto them, just feeling the other unicorn LLOYD gallop past him not a whisker's width away. He'd been lucky but he did not consider it now as his body pivoted sharply on his hind end and whirled him around. The grass was a bit slick with the moisture of the fog, but a bit of sliding did no harm and the spongy turf helped reduce concussion from the abrupt impact on his hocks. Ricochet shot forward, tearing after the first bull LUCIOUS.

Ricochet was significantly faster, easily gaining ground and pulling along LUCIOUS' left side, mindful of his hefty haunches but more so of his head with the limp goat nubs he called horns. Angrily the Incendiary pulled back his gnarled lips to aim blunt teeth at LUCIOUS' left flank while fore-hooves simultaneously lifted up and slammed down with his stride to try and rake across the cannon bone or fetlocks of LUCIOUS' left hind limb. It would be a devastating blow if it hit and would perhaps deter bucking, though it slowed Ricochet down so he chose to veer away to the left to help avoid bucking range.

[800 words :: 1 magic use :: summary- Ricochet explodes the dust Midas kicks up around Lucious and Lloyd. He charges blindly forward and is cut by Lucious' horn on his left shoulder. Ricochet cow-kicks out at Lucious' left hind leg. Ricochet pivots and comes on Lucious' left side, biting at Lucious' left flank and trying to stomp on Lucious' left cannon/fetlock. Ricochet veers a bit to the left.]