Rainbow Burst looked at herself in the mirror. Taking a deep breath, she let out it, blowing some of her rainbow colored mane in the process. She straightened up, standing as tall as she could, and looked herself hard in the eye.
Alright, Rainbow, she told herself. You can do this. You were a student of Princess Celestia. You've dealt with the likes of Blueblood time and time again. Hay, you even faced down an enraged alicorn and came out of it alive. You can handle one loud-mouthed show mare. Plus, you have plenty of spells ready, including shields and... She shifted, furrowing her brow. Really need to come up with a name for my cloud exploding spell.
She gave a shake of her head. That was not the point right now. The point was, she had spells at the ready, she had enough power, and she had at least some training. Everything said that she should be able to win a magic duel.
Letting out a sigh, she stepped away from the mirror, leaving her room and heading downstairs.
"Ready?" Spike asked as she came down.
Straightening up again, Rainbow put on her cockiest smirk.
"Course I am," she replied. "That Lightning Blast doesn't stand a chance."
Spike looked away from Rainbow before rolling his eyes. He had known Rainbow Burst as long as he remembered, so he knew when she was putting on an act. Especially since he was the one that had told her about the whole thing and had seen how worried she was at the time. No reason to point it out though. It would do no good, and might shake Rainbow's confidence a little.
"Come on, Spike," Rainbow said as she headed for the door. "Everypony is probably waiting to watch us duel."
"Right behind you," Spike said as he followed after her.
Opening to door, Rainbow and Spike found five other mares waiting for them.
"Girls?" Rainbow asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at her friends.
"We thought we'd walk with you to the town square," Twilight offered.
"And cheer you on," Pinkie added, appearing in front of the others with a pair of pom-poms. Standing up on her hind legs, she waved the pom-poms in the air above her with her front hooves.
Seeing her friends made Rainbow feel a little more relaxed, more hopeful. The knot in her stomach did not disappear, but it did loosen. She also let out a chuckle at Pinkie and her antics.
"Thanks," Rainbow said as she moved forward. "I appreciate the support."
With her friends at her side, Rainbow made her way toward the town center. As they approached, she noticed that quite a crowd had formed, waiting around. It caused that knot in her stomach to tighten again.
Is every pony in town here? Rainbow wondered as she continued on toward the center. Don't they have other things to do around here? Like their jobs?
As Rainbow Burst continued on, the gathered crowd took notice of her. As she moved closer, they started to part, giving her a clear path to the open area where Lightning Blast was currently waiting. Rainbow walked along the now clear path, dozens -- hundreds, probably -- of eyes focused on her. She was like a celebrity getting ready to perform.
...or a criminal being sent to their execution.
Closer to the front stood several foals. Among them were: Snips and Snails, holding a sign with "Yay! Lightning Blast!!" written on it; Applejack's little sister, Apple Bloom; and the orange unicorn filly from yesterday, carrying a sign reading "Go Rainbow." The filly saw that Rainbow Burst was looking at her, and grinned so wide, her face was about to split in half.
"Well, it seems you have a fan of your own," Rarity said.
"Heh, yeah," Rainbow responded, looking at the filly. It was no surprise, really. She had saved the kid from getting hit by lightning, after all. Although it was really impressive to see, it was not that impressive once a pony understood how it worked. The only hard part was that they had to know the lightning was coming so they could prepare for it.
As she went by, Rainbow gave the filly a small smile. At this, the filly's eyes went wide, twinkling like stars.
Looking away from the filly, Rainbow Burst saw Lightning Blast waiting. Rainbow's body tensed as her stomach started to squirm. Jaw clenching, she straightened up and put on her best game face.
"Ready to lose?" Lightning asked.
"I'm sure you are," Rainbow retorted.
"...what?" Lightning asked, brow furrowed and head tilted in confusion.
"What?"
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"That you are going to lose?" Rainbow answered. "Did... did I not do it right? Was that not clear?" She turned to look at the others. "Did... did that not come across?"
"It did come out rather ambiguous," Rarity answered.
"I understood it," Pinkie said, raising a hoof.
Rainbow let out hum as her ears pulled back. Whether Pinkie understanding it was a good sign or a bad one was not something that she felt like trying to figure out right now. Especially when she had something way more important to focus on.
"Whatever. The point is, I'm ready."
"Great," Lightning said. Moving to the center of the clearing, she turned and faced Rainbow Dash. "Since I'm from out of town, I'll go first." Her horn lit up yellow with magic.
Three pies appeared in the air before Lightning Blast, and shot toward Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow's horn lit up as well. Her multi-colored aura wrapped around Pinkie Pie, pulling her up onto the stage and in front of Rainbow. As the pies came in, Pinkie opened her mouth wide, swallowing them whole before -- somehow -- spitting out the now empty tins.
"Mmm," Pinkie said as she licked her lips. "Chocolate cream. My favorite."
"HEY! NO FAIR!" Lightning shouted. "This is a magic duel. You're supposed to use magic to defend yourself, not just grab random ponies from the crowd to use as shields."
"First," Rainbow retorted. "I didn't grab a random pony. I grabbed a specific pony because I thought I knew what she would do, and she did. So I didn't use her as a shield. Second, summoning is permitted, which is basically what I did."
Lightning's ears pulled back and her eyes narrowed. Lips pressed tight, she let out a snort of annoyance.
"Fine," Lightning huffed out. "Just go ahead and take your stupid turn."
Rainbow's eyes narrowed as she smirked. Since things seemed to be starting slow, she decided to go with something small as well. Although what she had in mind would be more entertaining than throwing pies, it would be about as childish.
Rainbow Burst unleash her spell, firing it directly at Lightning Blast. The spell hit the opponent unicorn, engulfing her in the rainbow colored aura for a second.
As the magic faded, the crowd stared at Lightning Blast. Snorts began to escape from the gathered ponies. Then snickers and coughing. Shortly, ponies began to just out and out laugh.
"What?" Lightning asked, blinking at the crowd. "What's so funny?"
"Your mane!" Pinkie Pie called out. "It's like a big ball of cotton candy!"
Conjuring a mirror, Lightning took a look at herself. On top of her head -- instead of her typical, slicked back, orange and yellow mane -- was a large ball of light blue fluff that looked like cotton candy.
"I thought blue would be more your color," Rainbow said, smirking.
Lightning Blast let out a huff as she banished the mirror. She would deal with the mane later. Right now, she had an obnoxious unicorn to deal with. One that needed to have her head soaked, at that.
Turning her head up toward the sky, Lightning's attention focused on one of the clouds above them. Grasping it with her magic, she pulled it down toward them, bringing it to rest above Rainbow Burst.
"Oh no," Twilight whispered, eyes wide at the sight of the cloud. "Rainbow, if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, be careful."
"What's the matter, sugar cube?" Applejack asked, leaning in close and raising an eyebrow.
"Yesterday, Rainbow came up with a spell that would let her blow up a cloud," Spike answered. "Well, she tested it out, actually." He held his arms up in front of him. "Big explosion. Totally awesome. Twilight saw it."
"Oh," Rarity said as she turned toward the stage. "So it seems that this very well may work in Rainbow's favor."
With the cloud less than a foot from Rainbow Burst's head, Lighting Blast shot at it with her magic, giving the equivalent of a pegasus' kick. The cloud boomed with thunder before unleashing its rain upon the mare below.
The cloud sent a thrill of excitement through Rainbow Burst. She had been hoping to show off her new spell, but did not think it would be so soon. With all of Ponyville watching, no less. That would be great. A big explosion and an impressive performance to intimidate her opponent into quitting.
She just had to be careful not to have anypony caught in the blast. Wrapping her magic around the cloud, she pushed it up and up, higher and higher until it was what should have been a good enough distance (she had not actually done any real mathematic calculation for the possible explosion size relative to the base cloud). Releasing it, Rainbow turned her attention to the spells needed to make it explode. She then unleashed the blast of magic, hitting the cloud.
All the gathered ponies looked up, watching the stream of energy fly up into the sky and hit the fluffy whiteness.
Then they waited.
And waited.
And waited.
"Is something supposed to happen?" somepony asked.
A blush formed on Rainbow's cheeks as she looked at the cloud. Yes, something was supposed to happen. It was supposed to explode in flame. Jaw clenching, body tensing, she called on her magic and tried again. Again, her magic hit the cloud.
This time, something did happen. The cloud turned pink, then shifted to a light, creamy orange. It continued on: a pastel yellow; a light, soft green; and then turning purple before becoming white again.
"Neat little trick," Lightning said, "but not exactly impressive in a duel." Her eyes narrowed as she grinned wickedly. "Now, my turn."
Taking a hold of the wet ground around Rainbow's hooves, Lighting pushed more water into it. The thick mud wrapped around Rainbow's legs, pulling them close to each other. It then worked its way higher and higher, wrapping around her until stopping just below the barrel. Lightning squeezed the mud hard with her power, pressing it tight, compacting it, before pulling all the water out of it.
Rainbow Burst was now trapped up to her body in hardened clay. No matter how much she squirmed, how much she pushed, how much she tensed or tried to kick, she could not even move her legs, much less break free. Conjuring a hammer, she hit clay. The she hit again, and again, and again. It was after the tenth hit that a small piece of it even began to chip off. Next, she conjured a chisel to use as well. Pressing the sharp edge against the surface, she brought the hammer down against it with all her magical might.
If felt like every bone in her body was shaken and rattled, sending aches through her muscles and joints.
The clay had a hairline fracture in it.
"Need help?" Lightning asked as she strolled forward, eyes narrow and a smirk on her face.
"I got it," Rainbow retorted. Lifting the hammer up, she slammed it against the top of the chisel again. The fracture grew slightly thicker, running further down the length of the clay. She then gave it a third hit.
With a sigh of boredom, Lightning Blast looked at her wrist.
"We don't have all day."
Rainbow Burst let out a huff of her own as she dismissed the hammer and chisel. Focusing her attention on the fracture, she poured her magic directly into it. As she pushed her power into the clay, she hardened it, making it solid as possible, and pushed out against the edges. Slowly, she pushed deeper, further, feeling the pressure against the clay grow and grow.
The crack grew wider and wider.
"Not bad," Lightning Blast said as she lit up her horn again. "How 'bout we make it extra challenging?" She then wrapped her magic around the outside of the clay, pressing it down again.
Body tensing, eyes squeezing shut, jaw clenching, Rainbow focused. She continued to push with her magic, pressing against the clay and the force of Lightning Blast's own power. She could do this. She was Rainbow Burst: powerful unicorn; student to Princess Celestia herself; one of the ponies to defeat Nightmare Moon and save Princess Luna; and she bore The Element of Magic. She could beat some stupid dirt and a loud mouth showpony. She just had to think of a way.
Until then, she would just bull her way against it.
The crowd gasped as the magic aura around Rainbow's horn grew. It became larger, brighter, pulsing with her energy and will.
"No," Lighting growled as her own horn lit up brighter. "I will not lose to some back-water, small town, loud mouth!"
The yellow aura grew larger, engulfing all of the clay and the unicorn trapped inside. It pressed down on the material and around the mare, holding her in place and trapping her magic. The shell began to swell and pulse, the inside filling with more and more power. It grew larger and larger, stretching like a balloon. The rainbow colored energy trapped inside could be seen, shifting, swirling, growing larger and large.
Until...
POP!
The yellow aura shattered, the trapped rainbow energy bursting out. It exploded outward, from the spot it had been building. The thick clay shattered as Rainbow Burst and Lightning Blast were hit by a the magical blast, knocking them off their hooves.
"RAINBOW!" her friends shouted as they ran to her.
"We need to get her to the hospital!"