//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 // Story: Weathering Winter // by Sasha Nein //------------------------------// Many Meetings “Nopony Move!” Twilight yelled as she stood in the center of the courtyard, “Any closer and I’ll dispell all your sustaining magic!” The pony-like creatures surrounding her paused as she lowered her charged horn. “I don’t know how sentient you are, but unless you step aside or take me to my friends, bad things are gonna happen.” she shouted. Twilight hoped that they understood, if she could get them all to follow and congregate together, then she would only have to use her spell once. The thought that she might be murdering a lot of ponies never crossed her mind. As far as she was concerned they were no more than empty constructs. From a scientific standpoint, she was right. The ponies parted, opening a path to the keep. Twilight walked forward slowly and was relieved that all of the ponies followed her at a distance. She kept her horn glowing menacingly, they could be waiting for just the right moment to pounce. That would not have surprised her, their creator was not a very nice pony in her opinion. As she continued walking her anger about the whole situation came flooding back for the first time since the blizzard. She almost died and her friends had been ponynapped. Yea, the pony responsible for this was going to get it; 'get it BIGTIME' as Pinkie Pie would say. She stormed through the keep oblivious to her direction, it felt good to be furious. Finding her friends would come eventually. But calming down was not an option, she wanted to be angry when she faced him. She had tried to be nice, informative, understanding and helpful, but it was all rubbed in her face with pranks and cheap remarks. It was now her turn to make a mess, she would show him just how dangerous she could be. She finally entered the chamber where her friends were. It was just a simple dining hall with rather bland decorating and no tables. Each of her friends were in separate cages lined up along the floor. Twilight narrowed her eyes before turning to watch the guard ponies file in, then she yelled as loud as she could, pouring all of her rage into it: “WINTER! Where the hell are you?” Her voice cracked into a scream rivaling Fluttershy’s traumatic Gala experience. She heard Fluttershy and Rarity squeak and gasp collectively, but that was just a minimal thought in the back of her brain. Right now, she only had eyes for the unicorn that stepped from a side room and moved to face her. *        *        * The Ponyville library was located on the edge of town nearest Canterlot. It afforded the balcony goers a spectacular view of the distant city and the surrounding mountains. The morning light had yet to reach over the distant peaks. Which was creating spectacular shadows for any viewer of the scenery. The evenings were, if anything, more spectacular than the sunrises as the light would reflect off of the distant city spires. All of this was lost on the two pony residence of the library as they exited its premise. One was entirely engrossed in how the social machinations of the day were going to play out, while the other was busy trying not to think of anything at all. To the average pony, it would seem that two friends were out getting an early start into a busy day. But if one were to take a look into the mind of just one, they would immediately see how wrong they were. To say Twilight was distraught is an understatement. She had no ideas, appointments, checklists or even a plan for what was going to happen today. That was more than enough to frazzle her nerves. However, there was still more that raked a frayed bow across her strings. She had a companion who was forcing himself to accompany her even though he would obviously rather face a pack of Timberwolves. She had no idea how he was going to react to the happy citizens of Ponyville. Or how well his tolerance would hold up in the presence of Pinkie Pie. It was amazing to Twilight herself that she was trotting calmly towards certain doom without a single twitch of the eye. Perhaps her body was trying to tell her it would be okay; she wished she could make her mind believe that. * It was still early enough that when Twilight and Winter entered the marketplace, the shopkeepers were barely beginning to set up stands. Twilight decided now would be the best time to go and meet Pinkie Pie. The energetic pony was always up early, and most likely helping Mr. and Mrs. Cake with baking. Sugarcube Corner was a busy place once they opened for breakfast. Twilight hoped to avoid that rush. “You know, the market stalls are usually set up by now in Canterlot. Ponies sure are lazy here.” Winter said condescendingly. Twilight raised an eyebrow and gave him a sidelong glance. It was a much smaller town out here, surely he realized that life was more or less harder in Ponyville compared to Canterlot. Towns like this one grew the produce that was always readily available in Canterlot. Without Ponyville and other high agricultural towns, Canterlot would not be the big city it was. Ponies were busy all day tending to their fields and livelihoods. Then were up late trying to wrap up work and spend a few hours with family. Half the ponies who set up stands for the day in the marketplace came in from the surrounding countryside, like Applejack. Even if they were up at the crack of dawn, getting things organized and to town took time. Ponies were anything but slouches in Ponyville. “I seriously doubt that,” she said, “most ponies are up late working here, Ponyville has a lot of small events happening here all the time that keeps the populous busy.” “Ah yes, I heard about a few of them, like that parasprite infestation,” Twilight saw him glance at her with a smirk as he continued, “It must be rough for them to live with you in town.” Twilight stopped walking, “Hey, just because I've made a few mistakes does not mean I'm responsible for all the work that goes on here. It seems your knowledge is a little lacking on the goings on around here. Most everything that happens here I have nothing counterproductive to contribute.” Winter laughed, “Whatever you say Miss Sparkle.” “The residents are harder on themselves than I ever could be Mr. Winter,” Twilight shot back. “Hmm, yes, we are going to see that rambunctious pink pony aren't we? So this is the famed Sugarcube Corner...” Winter appraised the building with a disdainful eye as they approached. Twilight did not even flinch as Pinkie Pie burst out of it at full speed. She stopped on her front hooves with her nose almost touching Winter's muzzle. “HI! I’m Pi--” Winter recoiled, “GAA!” His horn lit up and a wave of magic surrounded Pinkie Pie and blasted her back into the candied walls she had just come from. Twilight's heart jumped to her mouth. She watched as Winter, in his panic, prepared another menacing looking spell. It took mere seconds for this to happen. Twilight barely had time to register what was going on before the black mass forming above Winter’s horn was sent speeding towards Pinkie Pie. She barely reacted in time. Teleporting in front of Pinkie Pie she planted the strongest magical barrier she could create in the path of the spell. The magic clashed, Twilight could see, and feel, Winter’s spell clawing at her barrier, trying to break it down. It felt sickening, she had never before had to block any menacing spells. Nothing she had ever blocked had been this powerful either. Thankfully, the sensation only lasted a second before she could feel Winter quickly back off the spell. Twilight left her barrier up as she whirled to administer to her friend. “PINK-” Twilight said turning, but Pinkie Pie was already standing right next to her, apparently uninjured, “-iepie,” She finished flabbergasted. “Twilight! What is up with this Mr. Mean McMeanie Pants anyway? Did he get up on the wrong side of the haystack this morning? It sure is rude to throw people around before you even met them, I mean, c'mon what was that?” She said, addressing Winter at the last while giving him a hurt look. Looking at Winter, Twilight noticed he was staring at her with rather wide eyes. It did not look like he was going to perform any more magic. She lowered her barrier and tried to get his attention. “Hellooo Winter, come in Winter!” She called, moving towards him, then leaning forward until their noses almost touched. “I... h-hey back off,” he said quickly blinking away. “Back off?” Twilight said almost hysterically, “Back off? YOU sir, you just attacked a pony! One of my friends at that! What in the world were you thinking!?” “It was a mistake Twilight, I apologize.” Winter said, putting his nose in the air. “You do realize that she just appeared in my face. I don’t know about you, but I am unused to that happening to me. Besides, she is just fine. Your reaction and magic was timely and,” he paused and raised an eyebrow, “sufficient, I suppose?” Twilight narrowed her eyes, “I don’t care if you are unused to it, that kind of behavior is not appropriate and I will certainly not-,” She paused as the weight of Winter’s tone sank in, “What do you mean by ‘sufficient’, what kind of spell was that anyway?” Her eyes narrowed even more and she moved closer. She had to stop rather quickly however as Winter stood his ground. Odd, that usually worked in cowing ponies. For a split second Twilight was rather annoyed that Winter was not intimidated by her; but he started speaking and she put all other thoughts out of her mind. “That was a rather simple war spell designed to incapacitate a pony through any means I see fit. It would have been easier to stop it if you had tried to disperse it like a cloud instead of blocking with a magical barrier. I could have continued the spell and weakened, or possibly broken your magical barrier without ever having to create a new spell. Your action was effective in this situation,” he put a hoof to his chin, “but it was hardly ideal for--.” “I don’t care what it was! What makes you think I know ‘war magic’ anyway Winter? There has not been any war in Equestria for six hundred years! I can’t believe that princess Luna allowed you the use of that kind of magic.” Twilight was getting hysterical now. It was beyond her comprehension that Winter was aiming to hurt and possibly kill another pony. “Twilight--” Pinkie Pie began. “Quiet Pinkie, I’m not finished yet,” Twilight interrupted not looking away from Winter, “Winter I really hope that you don’t do this again, I would like to suggest you forget you even know that kind of magic because--.” “Listen Twilight,” Winter interrupted her now, “I don't need any lectures on my behavior, certainly not from you. I admitted my error, apologized for my mistake and nopony got hurt. Your friend is just fine, I really think though that I should be addressing her right now since she was the victim and not you.” He turned to Pinkie Pie and Twilight snorted in aggravation. “I am sorry for causing you any discomfort Pinkie Pie, but it seems you are alright. You startled me but I think that I will be able to contain my reactions in the future. My name is Winter and I am princess Luna’s right hand pony.” He finished pompously. “Well, if you are sorry then I’m ok with it!” Pinkie Pie said exuberantly, “after all, what are friends for if not to be forgiving?” She bounced forward in a flash and tackled Winter in an enthusiastic hug. His eyes widened again but before he could do anything his back hit the ground with a goodly amount of force, he grunted. Twilight gave him a smug look when he glanced at her. She knew from experience that Pinkie was unable to hold a grudge if anypony apologized, and she would just get her own lecture on friendship if she tried to pursue the issue in front of her. She garnered what satisfaction she could from Pinkie Pie’s rambunctious hug, and her non-stop talking, as she tucked away the incident to be dealt with later. *        *        * Winter approached Twilight calmly, his face betrayed no emotion from their previous encounter. Twilight thought about hitting him with everything she had right there, but decided against it, she had something else in mind. “Twilight,” Pinkie Pie said worriedly from her cage, “please be nice, he has not hurt us at all. We are all still friends right?” “Aw shoot sugarcube, if we were all still friends, then how come we’re all in these here cages still?” Applejack intervened immediately, she turned to Twilight. “You're lookin mighty angry though Twi, mayhaps you better calm down a bit?” “Your friends make a good point Twilight,” Winter said snidely, “Don’t do anything you will regret.” “Quiet,” Twilight growled, “I know exactly what I’m going to do, and I will not regret one bit of it.” She swirled to face Winter’s constructs which had followed her in. Twilight released the spell she had been maintaining. A purple wave rocketed out from her in all directions. She could feel it dissipating around seven points behind her, but it passed through everything else. The ponies that were in the hall all suddenly hitched and wretched for a split second before they dissipated into nothingness. She turned with a triumphant look back to Winter. He wore an infuriating smile. Twilight again considered blasting him with all the magical force she had, but the small part of her brain that was still ticking logically held her back. “Nice Twilight, that's what I like to see, I’ve never seen that particular spell. Although, the basic premise is easy enough to understand, did you make it?” “I just di- WHAT!? NO!” Twilight screamed furiously, “NO! I am NOT going to play those games Winter, you let my friends go now!” Did he seriously just compliment her? What kind of crazy pony was he, she was about to blast him into kingdom come. She was angry and he was just standing there with a pleased, no, a smug look on his face. The nerve, what did he think he was accomplishing with this? His attitude made no sense. Winter gave her an irritated look, “You know Twilight, for such a magically talented pony, you really are quite the idiot.” Twilight could not help herself, she charged her horn and blasted Winter with her magic. Unfortunately, his barrier erupted instantly before him and the blast ricocheted off onto the floor. It still felt good though. “Twilight,” Rarity gasped, “Surely you don’t need to resort to violence. Somepony might get hurt.” “Thats the whole point,” Twilight growled. “It is isn’t it... Just be careful not to hit your friends, because I’m not going to shield them from your rambunctious behavior,” Winter said. “You are such a brute Winter,” Rarity said stiffly, “Why on earth are you antagonizing Twilight like this? Surely you-” “Antagonize? I, and you, are all here to teach Twilight a lesson in magic,” WInter said hotly as he turned on Rarity. “She is an incompetent unicorn not deserving of the power she has. I may only be a pony trained in the art of war, but even I know enough about agricultural and civil magics to know that she could be doing a whole lot more to help Ponyville along.” Twilight’s voice cracked, “TEACH!? Petty insults about my magical capabilities is what you call teaching?” “I do not like you Twilight Sparkle, I’ll admit that right now. The only thing keeping me from blasting you into oblivion is that princess Luna has requested I do not.” “You-” “-I’m NOT finished,” Winter spoke over her loudly, “I have attempted to become your friend but... Every. Single. Thing that you do screams ineptitude, which just eats me up to no end. It angers me even more that princess Celestia saw fit to just let you waste away all of the talent you possess. I cannot sit by and let this continue, with all the knowledge you have acquired and learned, you still lack so much magical skill. What’s more, you don’t even try to get better.” Twilight was starting to have a hard time comprehending what Winter was saying. Sure he admitted to not liking her. But his continual quips over the past few days about her magic usage was starting to get to her personally. She had always prided herself, secretly of course, on her magical prowess... But now, this pony comes in and every word and action he directed towards her showed a personal distaste for how she performed spells. Deep down, it nagged at her, clawed at her faith in Celestia’s teachings, made her doubt her own skill. Was she really very good at all? He was a pony who came from a time where magic was honed to its full potential in every pony. Unlike today, where unicorns were more or less allowed to learn and advance as they saw fit. What if she really had been learning lazily? There was no need in these days to push to become the best you could be. She spent her time more in magical theory than actual practice of her magic. But that wasn’t wrong was it? Celestia had encouraged her studies, they had made some astounding breakthroughs in those long nights together at the palace. And, she was already going down in history with enough fame to rival Starswirl the Bearded. Surely everything she had been learning was not all bad, Celestia taught her what she had needed to know. She had encouraged her to follow her own path of study after that. Yes, that was all it had been, Celestia wanted to her to be happy, not the best. Winter saw Twilight finally stop her charade and think for once, he could barely believe it. As much as he disliked everything she did, it was worse to watch her squander the raw power and talent she possessed. On the one hoof, he felt rather guilty for stretching his word to Luna to breaking point. But he was also pleased that he had a chance to get a shot at Twilight for a legitimate reason. He 'technically' had not broken his word to Luna, he had not injured Twilight or her friends. While his teaching was purposely violent, he was well within his right to defend himself against an angry Twilight. He might have been easier on almost any pony else with his lesson true. But he had decided this would be the funnest way for him to make Twilight realize the world did not revolve around her. *        *        * After a punctual thirty minutes at Sugarcube Corner, Twilight made her goodbyes to Pinkie Pie. She wondered if she looked as exhausted the first time she met Pinkie Pie as Winter did now. Twilight had given up trying to explain her, she could make a filly feel old with her overwhelming displays of exuberance. Thankfully though, she was able to excuse herself and Winter from Pinkie Pie's presence. They still had a busy day to get through. Twilight decided to see Rarity next. She was usually up by now, getting ready to open her boutique . Hopefully they would have a chance to talk with Rarity before the hustle and bustle of the day. The idea of a quiet chat was quickly squashed. Upon entering, Twilight found Rainbow Dash already there. She was decked out in a half finished dress which required her to stand awkwardly with her wings out. Of all ponies, she was the last one Twilight would have guessed to be in with Rarity this early in the morning. The only times she wore clothes was during events with the rest of her friends. The only reason she could think of for Rainbow Dash being there was that Rarity won a bet against Rainbow Dash, and she was forced to model for a day. Twilight groaned at that. She had lost a bet to Pinkie Pie once and that was what she had come up with for Twilight to do. For a pony who was so full of energy and always moving, being made to stand still for hours on end was the worst thing in the world. The bell jingled once again as the door closed and Rarity turned, clearly expecting a customer. “Welcome to- She cut off as her eyes landed on who entered, “Twilight! Why, you are certainly out early. Who is this?” Rarity looked him over. She was no doubt imagining all of the different articles of clothing she could put him in. Twilight was half inclined to let her do as she pleased if she asked. It would be fitting justice for what he had done to Pinkie Pie. “Rarity, this is Winter. The stallion I was talking to you about a few days ago,” was all she said. Rarity looked confused, so Twilight continued, trying to jog her memory. “I came to you with a letter. I asked for your advice on what to do?” Her face brightened, “Oh! Of course darling. I am so sorry. I've just been so busy these past few days it all seems to... blur together.” She chuckled nervously. “Hey, hello,” Rainbow Dash cut in, “no offense Twilight, but I was here first and unless I get this dress off soon there isn't going to be much left of anything in here. My wings are starting to itch and it is very uncomfortable.” Rarity spun and hurried back to continue fitting Rainbow Dash. She started taking measurements and making calculations as she maneuvered pins and fabric around the Pegasus. She worked quickly, but there was still no keeping her from trying six different styles of dress or color every few minutes. “My apologies Rainbow Dash; I am afraid I'm very busy at the moment Twilight, but it is very nice to meet you Winter,” she said briskly as she worked. “Thanks Rarity,” Twilight gave Rainbow Dash a confused look, “Rainbow why are you here getting a dress made, I thought you hated this kind of thing.” Rainbow abandoned her pose and flew excitedly towards Twilight, eliciting an indignant squawk from Rarity. “There is an awesome Pegasus racing event in Fillydelphia tomorrow and the Wonderbolts are going to be the judges,” She gushed, “This is a huge event and the top three winners will get to spend the evening with them! I've already got a place in the race and I'm making sure I have something totally awesome to wear.” “Rainbow Dash,” Rarity huffed loudly, “this is not going to help you get your dress made sooner, and I simply refuse to allow you to ruin my fabrics! Get back over here!” “Alright alright calm down Rarity. I gotta move sometime, this statue business is killing me. Ugh! I can't stand here all day. I'm a Pegasus, I need to get out and fly at least every hour. Besides, I gotta keep practicing!” “You have been standing there for barely twenty minutes Rainbow Dash. You stood still for longer than this for the last dress I made for you.” Rainbow Dash ignored her and turned to Winter who had yet to speak. “So, you are Twilight's new pal huh? How is that working out?” “Well I've just about died of boredom at least half a dozen times now; but thanks to that pink pony I did not commit suicide this last time,” Rainbow sniggered as Twilight gave Winter a glare that could curdle milk. He ignored her and continued undaunted. “So, Rainbow Dash, you think you got what it takes to fly in the Grand Fillydelphian Circuit?” Rainbow Dash's jaw dropped. “Woah! You know about it? Are you a racing fan? That is so awesome! You just gotta come watch the race now! I'll--” Rarity's irate voice cut across the room, “Rainbow Dash, this dress is going to take time to make. Unless you want to go to the dinner without a dress, I suggest you get back here. The more you mess up my hard work, the longer this is going to take.” Rainbow Dash grumbled as she floated back to Rarity. She immediately started straightening the half made dress and re-taking measurements. Winter continued the animated discussion with Rainbow Dash about racing and Pegasus feats. Trying to tune out the conversation, Twilight turned to the white unicorn. “Well Rarity, I suppose we should get out of your hair here then. I just wanted you to meet Winter since we will be together for the foreseeable future.” “Woah wait, together, you are what with who?” Rainbow turned from her conversation with Winter. Twilight looked scandalized, “No! Not, nothing like that, its just...we are living...I mean, not...” She trailed off spluttering, her vocabulary failing her panicked mind. Winter sniggered, “Woah, got kind of a dirty mind there-” Rarity interrupted him, “It is alright darling, I understand your situation perfectly, no need to sweat an explanation,” she soothed as she wove more fabric into the dress. “What do you mean no explanation? This is- Ouch! Rarity what was that?” Rarity smiled innocently, “Woops! I am sorry Rainbow dear, but you really need to stand still. I am afraid I have misplaced a pin or two.” Winter sniggered again as she turned to Twilight, “You go on dear, we both have busy days to finish. Don't worry about Rainbow Dash. I'll make sure she doesn't spread any rumors.” Twilight gave her a grateful look before turning to Winter and Rainbow Dash who had fallen back into their conversation.   “Winter we should go, Rarity and Rainbow are really busy,” she said interrupting them.  Rainbow Dash glanced at her, but Winter continued talking and she was quickly distracted again. Twilight interjected again to little effect. Winter was ignoring her, and doing a great job of capturing Rainbow Dash's attention. She was starting to catch on that he was purposely irritating her. Celestia help him if she lost it. Rarity spun Rainbow Dash around with her magic. Under the pretense of arranging her front, she covertly got Rainbow to observe the look on Twilight's face. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and she shuffled her hooves nervously. They both knew Twilight well enough to notice that she already was having a tough morning. The Pegasus quickly decided to wrap up the conversation. “Um, well I guess you need to be going, I'll see you around yea?” Rainbow tried to wave at Winter, but Rarity slapped her hoof down while telling her to hold still. Thankfully for all the ponies, Winter finally walked past Twilight and out the door. She took a deep breath and followed. Rarity and Rainbow Dash gave each other a knowing look, unless things went well from here on out, something was bound to happen with Twilight. The frazzled mane and eye twitch were never a good sign on her. *        *        * The air around the seven ponies felt like crackling ice. Applejack could almost feel the electricity jumping from Winter and Twilight. The surrounding air was still ice cold though. She could tell the rest of her friends were feeling it too. They sat as silent as the dead in their cages as they watched the two ponies in their standoff. Applejack watched as Twilight's face reflected the thoughts going on in her head. She was not sure she understood much of what Winter was telling Twilight as she did not keep up with unicorns and their magical terms. But what she did know was that Twilight was the most powerful, talented and friendliest unicorn she knew. It seemed to her that Winter was being very unfair in his “teaching”. Anypony could see that he and Twilight did not get along. He was being blatantly antagonistic.   “Let my friends go Winter, now.” Applejack started as Twilight's cold voice broke the silence. “Or what Twilight? You gonna run to your princess and hope she makes everything better? Because I haven’t seen or heard of you doing much else,” Winter sneered. Twilight’s wince surprised Applejack, it seemed as though Winter had struck a nerve. She kicked herself mentally for wasting the opportunities she had to learn about Twilight’s past. What Winter had said was upsetting to Twilight. An all too true statement that she seemed to be trying to keep hidden. Indeed, as Applejack continued to observe through her cage, Twilight directed her anger into a defense that steered away from the comment. “What do you want from me Winter? Not that I’m going to give it to you.” Twilight said. “I want you to fight me Twilight,” Applejack watched Twilight’s eyes widen and then narrow at his response. To her left, Rarity swooned. After a glance and raised eyebrow at Rarity, Winter continued, “With as much power and talent as I have seen from you, I still cannot understand why you let it all go to waste. If you fight, I’ll let your friends go.” Now it was Twilight’s turn to sneer, “You are sick Winter. I don’t know what you hope to accomplish by having a deathmatch. You clearly have some mental issues for even contemplating it.” Winter growled. “And you are ridiculously naive for thinking combat is not beneficial. Firstly it is going to teach you mental discipline. Then I am going to teach you some things about magic that are actually worthwhile.” “You don’t know how I learn or what I deem to be worthwhile and beneficial Winter. It would have helped your situation to discuss-” “That is your problem right there,” Winter interrupted, “What you think is ‘worthwhile’. Did you ever consider what would have been worthwhile for other ponies? Your selfishness has kept your potential from helping other ponies better themselves.” "You really think I'm being selfish? Who's assuming things now? You hardly know me or how I conduct my life." Twilight said hotly. “I haven’t seen any evidence to convince me otherwise.” Winter bluntly stated. “You haven’t even tried to figure anything out! The only things you have done have been antagonistic and irritating, not once have you tried figuring out anything about me.” “And that is for good reason,” Winter scowled, “I don’t need to ask you about anything because your life is an open book, it is pathetic.” Twilight snapped, it seemed she finally had enough. Applejack watched in awe as Twilight’s horn lit up like a miniature sun, even brighter than when she had handled the Ursa Minor. She suddenly realized that she still had no idea how powerful or capable Twilight really was, even after all this time. Her blood chilled as she thought back to the occasional times Twilight had almost lost it. She had no idea what it was Twilight blasted Winter with, but it was clear that it was ridiculously powerful from the size of it. The beam hit the wall behind Winter as he reflected it around himself. It left a red hot circle of rock where it blasted right through the building. Twilight fired again. Only this time Winter simply teleported out of the way, letting the beam smash the dais which had previously been behind him. “I could do this all day Twilight,” Winter said from beside her. She spun and tried to buck him with her hooves but he deftly caught them and twisted her to the ground. Twilight gasped in shock and pain but rolled back onto her hooves already preparing another spell. Winter sighed and shook his head as she encased him in a magical sphere and crowing with triumph. “Normally I would be a little intimidated if you had done this to me Twilight Sparkle. Your power is unparalleled and I would have no hope of breaking your shield. However," he said with a smug smile, "I know your knowledge of war magic is sadly lacking. Thus giving me the advantage of knowledge in this situation. I hope that you, in your respect for knowledge in general, understand that I can most likely best you in this fight.” With that, Winter touched his horn to the purple ball of magic surrounding himself and started infusing his magic into the shield itself. Twilight could feel it spreading through her magic and she began to panic. She was pretty sure her shield should have stopped any and all magic thrown at it. But this was obviously not the case here. It almost seemed as though his magic was joining hers. Before Twilight could ponder the new happenings and sensations further, every part of her shield, and by extension herself, was suddenly assaulted by what felt like, thousands of tiny spears. She gasped and reeled as she lost control of the magical barrier surrounding Winter. He smiled wider. “If you understood war magics in the slightest you would have been able to counter my attack.” Twilight attacked again and Applejack watched in fascination from, well, the center of the room. Not the place she really wanted to be, but that thought was rather far back in her mind as she observed all of the things Twilight conjured up to throw at Winter. She was in even more awe at the male unicorn for avoiding every single spell Twilight came up with. It was obvious he was in his element by the way he glided around or sliced his way through Twilight’s attacks. After only a couple of minutes, it became clear to Applejack that Twilight was outmatched. True, she was still blazing through powerful magics and spells at an impossible rate (a glance at Rarity’s jaw confirmed her suspicions on how much power Twilight had). Even to her, she did not seem to be tiring out very fast; but the openings Winter had because of his combat prowess to attack Twilight were all too frequent, even for an earth pony to see. Every time he had one of these openings, he taunted her with words and small zaps of magic. The red on Twilight’s cheeks were becoming pronounced enough to be unmistakable, even against her convenient coloration. Applejack knew a climax was coming and could not see any way that it would end well. She was growing angry at Winter for egging Twilight into this state. She had no idea how Winter was going to benefit from this situation. She began to silently pray that she and her friends would be spared from what was surely to be an explosive ending. A crash, louder than the ones before, made Applejack force her eyes open to observe, what she was sure, the end. It was not. But it was still quickly nearing. A corner of the keep had collapsed completely and sunlight was now pouring in. It seemed the storm was over, outside at least. The rest of the keep was teetering now having been blown full of holes and having just recently lost one of its corners. A bang behind Applejack confused her for a moment, Twilight and Winter were in front of her, not behind. She turned and gasped, Princess Luna stood in the entrance to the keep. It seemed she had just blasted open the doors. The wrath that was evident on her face, while not directed at herself, made the blood in her veins run cold. Luna strode forward but before she even reached the cages dialog from the duelists broke Applejack from her stupor. “Well, you managed to destroy just about everything else, but you keep missing the target,” Winter taunted. “SHUT UP,” Twilight screamed back, “It’s not like you have been able to do much yourself.” “Oh no?” Winter’s smug grin turned into outrage, “Then what do you call this? Or this? Or THIS!” With each punctuated word, Winter teleported around her and gave her a sizzling burn on her hide. Twilight jumped and spun while she flailed crazily with each burn he gave her. He teleported in front of her and she let loose a swing before thinking. Winter caught her hoof with his and twisted her to the ground. “I could have killed you any time I wanted,” He snarled. Twilight spat in his face, “Do your worst cretin,” was all she could come up with. The purple unicorn pushed Winter back as he tried to wipe off the offending mucus. He snarled and spun back around to face her with his horn glowing. Twilight prepared to counter with her own magic but was interrupted by the princess. “ENOUGH,” Luna thundered, her royal canterlot voice maxing out and causing all the ponies to instinctively crouch to weather the wind. “Winter, what ARE you doing?” “I am,” He faltered and laid his ears back, “I am teaching Twilight a lesson.” He finished firmly. “You--” Luna did not ever get to finish. Twilight had fired another monstrosity of a spell, It crackled with more energy than anything previously she had sent. Winter’s eyes widened in the split second he had before the wave of magic hit him. Twilight had no idea what was going through his mind. But his horn was still glowing and he somehow improvised whatever spell he was preparing to cast into something that would change his and Twilight’s world forever. As the two spells clashed, the world imploded around them. Before the two unicorns quite knew what was happening, the imploding sphere shot out two tendrils of magic which latched onto their horns. It seemed to try and send one at Luna, but she deftly flicked off the magic and teleported to the cages with the rest of Twilight’s friends. “Princess... what-” There was no time to finish. The imploding sphere expanded and encompassed Twilight and Winter within it. Luna, in her thousands of years of magical prowess and power, erected a shield that encompassed the five ponies and herself in an instant. The spell washed angrily, but harmlessly, around them. She gasped as the magic tried to take hold of her spell and turn it against her, but she quickly teleported herself, and the others outside the castle to a ledge far above. The amount of power it had taken for her to withstand the onslaught had been immense. It showed on all of the ponies. Their manes were singed from her desperate teleport attempt and their landings had been less than ideal. But Luna had little thought for this. She galloped to the edge and looked down on the castle below. The sight before her eyes was unlike any she had seen. The sphere had grown to encompass the whole keep, but strangely it was not growing any larger. It was a glossy silver in appearance. It occasionally lashed out monstrous lighting tendrils into the castle grounds. Luna’s brain had barely taken this in before the sphere suddenly vanished. The keep, and an almost perfect half-sphere of ground had been removed. Luna watched in stunned silence as the surrounding sand collapsed into the hole. "Well... What now?" Was all her mind could come up with at the sight.