Just to clarify for the judges-
Setting: Veins of the Gods
Weather: Birdsong start - endless night, moon and stars out, still cold. Some wind.

Prior Injury: Ampere has burns on her front hooves and fetlocks from the lava monster RE.

Prior Attack: Ampere lunged at Hespera within the thread, but for the sake of making judging easy, Wanda and I agreed the attack would completely miss. So rather than starting with the two of them circling each other/far away, they are already in close proximity, but that attack and Hespera's evasion of it shouldn't really apply to the rubric at all, same as a horse warming up their muscles/circling doesn't really apply, just helps set up the following moves better.

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Hooves scatter on the lava-warmed plateau, their harsh connection with the uneven surface bringing a sharp jab of pain to the over-worn toes and the sensitive nerves within the burned hoof wall. It makes her unsteady for a moment, her balance swaying as the feverish pitch of a battle rises behind her on the wings of screaming griffon.
It reminds Ampere how she longs to return to the embrace of the sky; to rid herself of gravity's chains and the weight that accompanies them.

Somewhere within the din caused by the furious creature and the rush of blood in her ears, Ampere catches the racket of Hespera's voice, nearly hysterical with outrage.

Ampere smiles into the night.

She shifts her head to throw a haughty glance of blue over her shoulders. Her mane tangles with the gaze as the wind stirs, coaxing her feathers with some ruffling.
The ache to fly is nearly palpable.

"I pick fight," Ampere retorts, her body already in motion as she surges forward, wings increasing in size as they unfurl from her sides and snare the wind. They slow her down though, dragging in the current while her stride, shortened and sloppy from sore toes, cannot give the needed speed fast enough.

Hespera sweeps in quickly, her short build so similar to Ampere's gives her the power to move low and swift. Ampere cannot hope to squeak by on physical talents alone in this fight, she has no given advantage for once.
Hespera's horn jolts forward like the crack of lightening it resembles. It drives into Ampere's left flank just as she shoves off the ground with the coiled muscles of her well-shaped ass. The blade doesn't slip in deep as it was not Hespera's intent to stab, but since her target was altered so radically its angle is not as true and its point is hungry, as most unicorn horns are. Ampere feeds it readily, black splitting open a seam of crimson that trails down her hide as the wind lifts her to safety.
It will bruise and soon harden with a scab, but otherwise is too superficial to impair Ampere the rest of the fight.

Wings beat hard and heavy as Ampere labors to get airborne. She kicks out in reaction to the pain in her left haunch, the blindly sailing hoof perhaps connecting with some front section of Hespera as she rears up.
The height Ampere achieves is enough to keep her free of Hespera's jaws, once more targeting a region already out of reach.

For a moment Ampere is taken away from the battle as she revels in the domain of the sky.
The weightlessness of flying gives her an ecstasy that numbs the aggravation of her burns and allows her to forget the angry flesh of her flank. Her wings, though strained in the rush to give her this moment, now stretch on the endless plain of the world and relax as she glides. Ampere tilts her head into the sensation of wind pouring over her body, of her mane tapping against her nape and her tail slipping between her thighs.

She is happy.

All too soon the reality of the moment is eager to return. The bliss shatters into... feathers.
Wings rebuff her face, which recoils with a snap towards her chest, eyes pinching tight, as Otienu arrives in a flurry. They do not hurt, only startle.
His anger tears at Ampere's heart and she does her best to barrel past him, unable to launch any offensive at the misguided creature. Even now he struggles to fight against whom would be his savior, so wrapped up in the unfortunate bond he shares with Hespera he cannot untangle his own emotions from her's. They share the rage of the moment and as a pair respond with all their available equipment.
For Hespera, sadly, this means using him.
To her he is equipment.

Ampere screams, her chest ready to explode with the unfairness and cruelty of it all.

She drops suddenly, turning on her right wing as it tucks to her side. Her body flattens into a line so akin to an arrow that her forehooves are the tip and her feathers the fletching.
As she nears the ground both wings snap out, her rump feathers also flaring up to gather the wind and slow her momentum.
It's too late to stop, but Ampere doesn't want that. She intends to drive her hooves into the back of Hespera's skull, much like she did to the lava monster. Her feathers only parachute to keep herself from splattering on the ground. Part of her maneuver depends on ricocheting off Hespera back into the air with fast-pumping wings.

Ampere grits her teeth, anticipating the backlash of pain.

All is fair in love and war, it is said.

Exactly is fair?
Otineu thinks it means to keep all hooves on the ground, but would he do the same?
Ampere would argue to keep companions out of the mix, seeing as she has none and refuses to hurt the one involved.

Fair?
Fairness is when you release the chains that bind the soul and let your own blood spill on the ground, of your own choice, not sending the gryphon to fly so hastily into the fray after gorging on the emotions channeling through the bond.

So the love and the war continues, unfair, like Ampere's failed attack.


Hooves skid and scatter on the shale of the shrines. The terrain does nothing to aid balance and certainly offers no cushion for impact, a further blow to the pegasus' equilibrium. Ampere is crashing, her attack born of passion rather than tact, and all for a tiny buzz cut, what a waste.

Her front end slams into the stone and it jars her burned toes so immensely that they buckle beneath her, unwilling to endure the tragedy of pain. Ampere slides to her right side, the right-ward descent from above inevitably teetering her that way - a pity she hadn't tottered left, her already damaged side. She's wise enough to tuck her wings in the moment she feels the absence of Hespera's skull; she wouldn't be getting airborne with no landing pad to push off from. Still, the feathered appendage is not built to sustain such a hard hit and a distinct snap, crackle and pop can be heard as she fumbles to a halt on her side. Fractured likely, but better than landing with it open and having it break or rip off completely.

Mercifully Hespera's horn does not find Ampere's flesh, too busy bowing to the ground when Ampere was in range. She could not kiss the ground and jerk up at the same time, certainly not without a fine beating from Ampere's passing rear hooves.

With a groan akin to a morning following binge apple eating, Ampere unfolds from the cocoon of agony and staggers to her feet. It is not a fast process, though it seems like it because the world is spinning. It is for this reason, among others, that Otineu is able to land a direct hit.

The silver flash of feathers and fur sweeps in, beak and claws parting to serve as a living blade, one that slides so easily into Ampere's 'back'. Ampere shields her head by turning to the right, eyes pinching shut as though failure to see the act would make it any less of a travesty to her. Otherwise she does not move and her inaction says it clearly - I will not fight you.

A shudder racks her frame as the damage is dealt, more mental than either of her opponents can imagine. Red rivulets form on the cleaved muscle of her neck, but the rivers run deepest upon her heart, a depth that resounds with every beat. Ampere is drowning in them. The water wells up from within, forcing out everything else, and begins to spill free in whatever way it can. It finds the creases of her eyes and there unleashes.

"I will take your sins!" She screams suddenly, whipping her head around to the right - the left too sore from the assault that has since painted her shoulder crimson and the ground soon the same. The sky is hollow with the momentary silence that follows the outburst, but there is no need to wait long.
Ampere rushes forward, her hooves creating a terrible clatter, uneven with her lame front end, but it is her voice that splits the stars. "AND BEAR THEM PROUDLY!" she roars with terrifying intensity that ignites within her very bones. Each stride aches in her very being, but Ampere would gladly die for this cause, and tonight she just might.

Ampere carries on with the charge, neck stretched out black and red, teeth uncurling beneath blue. An obscure shape should sweep into view as Ampere's left wing arcs up and forward, hoping to catch Hespera's head with distraction, but a heavy slap would do nicely too. In that same moment Ampere's teeth seek out the tender skin of Hespera's neck, passing on her left and aiming high towards the crest to grip her.
Ampere does not stop there. Her momentum continues forward, intending to drive into Hespera, forehooves lifting to try and climb over her like a mountain to be conquered.

Ampere intends to seize Hespera, and then trample her into the dust of these godly ruins, just like the fallen deity she believes herself of being.

Rage is a terrible thing. It has a way of blinding us, fooling us into thinking we have the control. It feeds us power and it makes us feel strong. It sets us on the top of a mountain so when we roar at the world it may better be heard as it echos, yet what gets built up comes crashing down, and with rage when we soar so high, we fall, inevitably, so far. We find that we have no control after all, but are a host to an emotional disease.

Ampere is heart sick.

She barrels in all broken and worn, each stride on the hard ground compounding her effects and staining her muscles which yearn for respite. Her heart has silenced the complaints and her soul has filled the noiseless void with the battle cry of that blind bull called rage. Before she's even understood everything that has happened Ampere has shoved Hespera over and trampled her into the stone and the dust. She has ravaged the mare in her moment of confusion and pain, unbeknownst to Ampere, shut in her world of red, but now the crimson veil is lifted and blue eyes blink out and they see. They see the horror of action in chaos overload and all her mind can fathom is, I thought this was what you wanted?

Ampere backs away suddenly, her head bowed between her knees as her haunches curl, back feet stepping on her tail. Some strands yank free with a jolt of nerves reminding her how much all of this is real. She wishes to do nothing more than hide beneath her wings and nurse the wounds she has sustained, both inside and out. She feels them all now crashing upon her as the adrenaline fades away and exhaustion sets in like dew to the morning grass. Her front feet throb in tempo with her pulse, the nerves frayed by all the harsh wear on the stiff ground. The slice along her left flank remains angry and at risk of infection. Her right wing is limp and dull at her side like a wet flag in a hurricane. The flush of talon marks on her neck still dribbles crimson, but nothing like the sheet that flows from Hespera. The sight terrifies Ampere, who despite her efforts could not hide herself from the image of getting what she wanted. I could kill her, Ampere thinks, wondering if she should. The thought unravels like the contemplation of an individual poised with a gun over a dying dog, ready to put the animal out of its misery.

A gentle nuzzle upon her leg startles her attention away from Hespera. It causes her hair to prickle and sends her head snapping down too fast, eliciting a fresh gush of fluid from her neck. The pain stiffens her, but the fuzzy gryphon at her hooves softens her. This is what I really wanted her heart murmurs, beating with a fresh pulse of life when she was so close to withering. She does not want the blood on her hooves, or his, she laments the red staining his body, but she knows no other way. She has no other talents, if this mess could even be called that, and she knows no better way to make them see. After all, Otienu is here with her now, is he not?

FUCK YOU!

The word frazzles through her ears like a biting insect and at once garners Ampere's attention, breaking the brief moment of gentleness she shared with Otienu. Her blue gaze slides like electricity through the night, bright and domineering, as Hespera rushes forward. I will not kill her Ampere decides, as if the task were in her utter control. It would hurt him too.

This was hurting all of them.

Hespera comes and Ampere whirls her ass around, nose dropping, but she does not bow. Her hind end rises to meet Hespera, intent to rebuff the mare in her chest or neck with a strong, albeit close-quarters buck. Ampere is tired and hurt though and her movement is slow and sloppy, her injuries loud and demanding on her focus. Hepera's impact shoves her forward. Wings seek to catch her, but the one is ruined and so her knees take her in. It is a heavy embrace that resounds in her teeth with a click. She scrambles upright fast as she can, but the fight is gone from her, she has already won tonight. She tries to stay just out of reach from Hespera, hobbling extensively now on her sore feet and knees.

"GO, you've nothing left here!"