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.