//------------------------------// // Chapter 27: Test Your Might Part 4: The Final Unleashing // Story: The Tale Of A Lost Wolf // by Solaris Night //------------------------------// "Trider Lykosgrothia, from this day forth I, Princess Luna, shall be your training partner." Silence fell over everyone, as they stared at the Kanisar and the alicorn. "WHAT???" they all shouted in silmultaneously. Blaze also wanted to voice his thoughts, but he kept his composure. "You can't be serious Luna?" Trider spoke up, shaking his head. "Why in hell would you volunteer yourself to train with me?" Luna raised a brown and slightly tilted her head. "You said you wanted to have somepony strong to help you. So here I am." she explained. Trider gave her a confused look, before he started to laugh. "Good one Luna, good one." he said in between laughs. "You got me good there." The mare gave him a deadpanned look, as she waited for him to settle down. "And pray tell, why do you think I am joking?" she asked, once the Kanisar calmed down enough for her to state her question. "For two reasons." he replied and raised a finger. "One, you're a princess, why would you have any combat experiences." He then raised another finger, as he continued. "Two, I defeated Chrysalis, who in turn beat the crap out of your sister. No offense." he added at the end. Luna sighed, before she addressed Trider again. "I do not know where you got the idea of either me or my sister not possesing any previous fighting experiences. There are many tales of the times me and Celestia engaged in combat with other." Trider gave her a sheepish look and scratched his neck. "Eh, have I mentioned I never looked into any history books, at all." Luna gave him a deadpanned look, before she rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?" she mumbled. "Just to give an idea of the threats me and my sister had to face in the past, let me tell you this. We had waged war on the Crystal Empire and the now dead Sombra." That statement made the Kanisar look at her with wide eyes. "OK. Maybe you do know a thing or two about how to fight, but that still doesn't mean you're stronger than me." he stood his ground. "How many times do we have to tell you that the reason my sister lost was because she was exhausted from her fight with a dragon?" the lunar princess asked, her voice showing she was slowly becoming annoyed. But Trider continued to be stubborn. "And I still think it couldn't have been that bad. I mean, how tough can one dragon be?" Luna massaged the bridge of her nose, before she sighed. "It is like talking to a brick wall." She then looked the Kanisar in the eyes. "Fine. It seems that talking will not resolve our arguement. So how about I show you?" "You have something in mind?" Trider wondered. "I do indeed." Luna replied with a smirk. "How about you and me have a match and see who is truly right?" Trider cracked his knuckles and grinned. "Fine by me." Nodding Luna looked towards Blaze and spoke to him. "General, if you could be so kind and prepare the arena for mine and Trider's match." "Of course your highness." the stallion replied. "How soon do you want it ready?" Luna looked towards Trider. "How does half an hour sound?" "Sounds perfect." Trider answered with a thumbs up. "Half an hour then." she said with a nod. She then began to walk away, towards on of the nearby buildings. "I hope you bring your... How did they say it again? Ah yes, I hope you bring your A game." "Count on it." the Kanisar said and waved off the mare. Suddenly someone grabbed him by his shoulders and when he looked back he saw Nightshade. "Dude, that was probably one of the most badass things I've ever seen. I mean, no one in their right mind would ever talk one of the princesses like that." "Thanks." Trider replied with a shit-eating grin. The stallion released his shoulder and walked off. "It was nice knowing you." he said when he was a couple of feet away from the Kanisar. "Wait, what was that?" Trider asked the retreating stallion, but never got his answer,a s he and the other recruits left.. "What was that about?" As he kept wondering what Nightshade meant he failed to notice Blaze approaching him. "Trider!" he exclaimed, gaining the Kanisar's attention. "What do you want?" he asked, aggravated. Blaze extended his arm, waiting for Trider to do the same. After some mulling the Kanisar took his hand and shook it. "Break a leg." the red stallion said. Trider looked at him surprised, not expecting this kind of support from him. "Well, thanks I guess. But I won't really need-" "And your arms, your other leg and your ribs and your head." Blaze cut him off, as he gave him a cold and mirthful glare. Letting go of his hand, the stallion walked off so he could prepare the arena for what was about to happen. Meanwhile Trider just stood frozen on the spot. "Jackass!" he mumbled, before heading off as well. *** Trider was standing in the arena, doing some stretches, as he waited for his opponent. "Pardon me for being late." someone said suddenly, drawing his attention. He saw the alicorn princess descend from the air and landing gracefully, several feet away from him. "No need to apologise Luna, I'm just glad you actually came." he assured her. "But if you didn't I would be really mad at you." he then added with a pout. "We would not want that now would we." she replied with a giggle. Trdier smiled at her response, but that smile quickly turned into a scowl. "While I can't wait for us to start." He then pointed a thumb behind him. "What are all of these people doing here?" Luna lifted her gaze and looked towards the stands and true to his words, nearly every seat was occupied by a Guard. They cheered, chatted, laughed and many other things. The princess then looked back towards Trider and smiled. "It appears that the word spreads fast. It is not everday that their ruler fights and alien." she replied. "I guess." Trider responded, while scratching his head. "But are you OK with this? I mean, won't your subjects be heartbroken when they see their beloved princess biting the dust?" Luna giggled and gave the Kanisar a challenging look. "I am certain. For I doubt you will land a single hit on me." "Oh, you're on Lulu." Trider said and gave a toothy smile. "Then let us begin." Without warning Trider charged at the alicorn, closing the distance in a second. As soon as he was within range he began wailing on mare. Luna however dodged every attack he prepared for her, while keeping her eyes closed. Trider began to grow frustrated at her cocky attitude, so he decided to spice things up. "Spirit Claw!" His arms were suddenly engulfed in Ki and he began to attack with even more vigor. But to Luna it seemed like nothing had changed. "Have you started already?" she asked in the middle of the Kanisar's barrage. Trider halted his assault and gritted his teeth, dispersing his Claws. "Will you stop dodging and fight me for real?!" he exclaimed. "Very well." the mare said and stopped her movement. Trider seeing she stopped, grinned and began to attack again. This time Luna didn't dodge his attacks, instead she lifted her right arm and extended her index finger. When Trider's attacks came, she blocked every single one of them with her raised finger and nothing else. This action made the Kanisar even angrier, but he took a deep breath and cleared his mind, not wanting to succumb to his anger. Seeing that direct approach wasn't paying off, he jumped and flew into the air. Luna didn't follow, instead she kept her eyes on him, to see what he would do next. Once he was high enough, Trider stopped and looked down on his opponent. "Let's see how you handle this!" he shouted and grinned. he began to fire shot after shot of Ki energy at the mare below, not even bothering to aim. Luna just watched his display and sighed. "How much more will I have to push him until he decideds to get serious?" she wondered, as she moved out of the way of the blasts that were threatening to hit her. Dust began to gather in the air, from the explosions the blasts were generating. Soon it was impossible to see thorugh it and the mare scowled. "Enough!" she exclaimed and wave her hand, the dust immediatelly dispersing. When she was able to see again she looked towards where the Kanisar was again. "HEY LUNA!" Trider shouted. "CATCH THIS!" He fired his Nova Sphere at the mare, but Luna didn't even blink. Instead she raised her hand and flicked the orb away. Trider watched with wide eyes as he watched his attack bounce away from the mare and explode. "H-how?" he stuttered. "Trider!" Luna yelled, gaining the Kanisar's attention. When he looked down towards her, he saw she had her wings full open. "I shall be attacking you now, so be prepared." "Luna I know you probably know this, but you don't tell your enemy what your next move is. That just gives them the chance to counter-attack." he scoffed. "Then why are you complaining? I am just trying to give you a fair shot." the mare retorted. "Fine!" Trider sighed and raised his arms. "Then come at me." He waited to see how the mare will approach him and when she began to flap her wings, his muscles tensed. All of a sudden the mare disappeared from the ground and reappeared behind behind Trider. "Here I am." she whispered into his ear. Trider quickly turned around to face her, but instead of her blue-green eyes he only saw the back of her hand, as she hit him directly in the face. The blow so strong that it sent the Kanisar fly into the ground below, where he dug a small crater with his impact. As he laid in his ditch he began to mull over of what had actually happen. "Did she teleport?" was his first thought, but he quickly objected the idea. "No, I didn't see her charge her horn, so does that mean she is just that fast?" As he began to think more and more, he quickly came to a realisation, that Luna did in fact move faster than he was able to see. "She's even faster than Green." he thought as he slowly picked himself up. Once he got out of the hole, he saw that Luna was on the ground as well and she was looking at him. "How was the fall?" she asked, taunting the Kanisar. "How?" Trider mumbled with gritted teeth. "How are you so strong?" he shouted. The princess of the night shrugged, before replying. "Push-ups, sit-ups and plenty of juice I suppose." All of a sudden trider slammed his fist into the ground, creating a cracks in it. "STOP SCREWING WITH ME!" he screamed. He got up and glared at the mare, his eyes filled with rage. "You think I don't know what you're doing?" he asked, while pointing a finger at her. "You're trying to get me angry, but what I want to know is why?" Luna closed her eyes and sighed. "You got me." she admitted. "I amtrying to make you furious and the reason for that is..." She stopped as she thought about how she should put it. "Is because I want to see your full strength." "My full strength?" he asked confused. "I've been going all out this whole time. What are talking about?" "No you have not." Luna rejected his statement. "There is still something only you can do to make yourself stronger." His eyes widened in realisation and shock. "No!" he said, shaking his head. "No, no and no. I'm never doing using that move ever again. I swore to myself. And no matter how angry you make me I'll never ever unleash it." "Trider." Luna called out. "I know you hold many painful memories because of that form, but I want you to use it again." "Why?" the Kanisar wondered. "While this match is about me showing to you how powerful I truly am, there is another reason behind it." she said and looked at Trider with pity. "I demanded this fight also for the purpose to see how strong you are and how much we can increase your strength. And I can better understand how strong you can become, if I experience you Feral Unleashing first hand." She then gave Trider a heartfelt smile. "But if you do not want to do it, I understand and I will not push this matter any further." Trider didn't reply as he thought over what the mare had told him. "Luna." he said softly. "Do you know the reason why I gave up on the Feral Unleashing?" he asked. "It is because it brings bad memories and you are afraid that something like what happened inthe Empire might happen again." "Yeah." Trider replied with a nod. "However there is another reason, a reason that I never told anyone." Luna nodded her head, telling Trider she was listening to waht he ahd to say. "A few days after I got out of the hospital I tried to use my Feral form, but when I did I could somehow sense Sombra, still somewhere deep within me." When he said that, Luna gasped. "Ah, but it might just be my imagination." he said to calm the mare down. "Yet, when I did use it that day I could barely control it. Usually it's no problem to me, even when I'm angry, though at that time even when I was calm I felt the same way as when I was in the Crystal Empire." Luna's eyes were filled with sorrow and she wanted to embrace her friend. "Trider, I-I did not know." She then took a deep breath and composed herself. "Maybe it is for the best if we finish this up. I will go tell General blaze to-" She was stopped however when Trider put a hand onto her shoulder and gave her a determined look. "No, we'll finish this the proper way. Until one of us can't fight anymore." The mare looked at him with awe. "Trider." she whispered. "After all that is how we Kanisars do things. Until the very end." he said with puffed chest and a smile. "I'll do it Luna. But there is one thing I want you to promise me." "Anything." "If I get completely out of control, I want you to promise me, that you'll stop me. By any means necessary." "I promise." she assured him and he smiled. "Thank you." he said and let go of her shoulder. "Now take a few steps away. Things are about to get intense." Minding his words, the alicorn princess walked until she was several feet away and she waited for Trider. "Here goes nothing. This is the last Feral Unleashing!" he stated proudly. Closing his eyes, he focused and tried to draw out that familiar feeling he always felt when he went into his Feral form. It took a few seconds, but eventually the dark aura began to encircle him. As he dug deeper and deeper into his feral side the more the aura grew in intensity, until it completely covered him and appeared like a dark flame. "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Trider screamed and unleashed all of his hidden power. The aura flared and shot into the air, reaching about 10 feet into the air. As he continued to power up the ground around him, began to give way to his aura and the air began to ripple. In all of his times Trider had ever used the Feral Unleashing, never had he ever brought out this much power. Eventually he stopped his screaming, the aura growing smaller, but it still enveloped his body. The crowd in the stands looked on in awe as they watched the display the Kanisar put forth. "What in the name of sweet Celestia?" Blaze mumbled. "How are you holding up?" Luna asked Trider. "Not well. Losing it." Trider replied with strained voice. Suddenly he growled and charged at the princess, closing the distance in an instant. Luna raised her arms and blocked the Kanisar's attack, one after the another. "Trider, you are in control, don't let your instincts overtake you." she begged him, but her pleads fell on deaf ears. After another blocked attack, Trider jumped away from Luna, landing on all four a few feet away and opened his mouth. A ball of energy began to form and he shot it at the mare. Luna raised a shield to block it, but more soon followed. Under the barrage of heavy fire, the lunar princess began to formulate a plan of attack. Once she came up with it she dropped her shield and teleported behind Trider. The Kanisar, acting on his pure instincts, quickly spun around and tried to roundhouse her, but she caught his foot with her arm. He however didn't let up and tried to blast the mare again, but she instantly put her hands onto the sides of his head and charged her horn. Both of their eyes began to glow white and she spoke. "Trider, I know you are in there. Please cease this and come back to your senses." Slowly the Kanisar's rapid began to slow down and his form began to relax. Happy with the outcome, Luna removed her hands and both of their eyes returned to normal. "Wha-? What happened?" Trider asked as he rubbed his head. "You lost it. But I managed to help you gain back control with my magic." she explained. Trider looked at her with slight shock, but he soon smiled. "Thanks." he said. "You are welcome." Trider then looked at himself and saw that he was still envolped by the dark aura. "Guess I can control it now." he said and clenched his fist a few times. "For now yes. But it is only a matter of time, before you lose it again." Luna stated with a frown. "Then we better finish quickly." Trider proposed and extended his fist. Luna looked at his hand and smiled. "Indeed." she answered and fist-bumped her friend. As if on cue, Trider withdrew his arm and swung it at Luna. She however blocked it with the palm of her hand and the two began to fight again. The crowd began to cheer even louder, though most were for the princess, while only a single voice was rooting for the Kanisar. Unaware of the audience the two were locked in fierce combat, but despite the power-up it was still clear that Luna was the superior among the two. But that didn't discourage Trider, instead it only made him more excited. "This is exactly what I wanted." he said mid-fight. "Someone who I can aspire to beat." "So I presume you finally acknowledge my strength." Luna retorted. Trider didn't answer, instead he only smiled. After another powerful blow, the two jumped away from each other, each landing a few feet away from the other. "Not just yet Lulu. I still haven't gone full out." As he said that the dark aura began to diminish, but was still present as a thin veil over him, and his muscles expanded. Once the transforamtion was done the crowd gasped, while a "Oh my!" resonated among the collective gasp. Luna meanwhile didn't react like the others did, instead she just grinned. "So you're trying to overpower me in raw strength?" "Hey, it worked before." Trider quipped. Luna just shrugged and beckoned him to come at her with her hand. Trider took her taunt and attacked. When they clashed the impact generated a small shockwave and then they began to run all over the arena. Some of the Guards had a hard time following them, but they could still feel the pressure of the fight. Like before Trider was the one attacking, while Luna was on the defensive. After a while however, the princess decided to finally attack. She grabbed the Kanisar's fist and that left his chest wide open. She slammed her palm onto his chest and sent him flying through the air. Unlike before however, Trider landed on his feet when he hit the ground and he skidded across it until he stopped in front of the wall. he was panting heavily and sweat was pouring down his face. "I think we are done here." Luna said loud enough so the Kanisar could hear her. Trider however smiled and shrank back down, his aura once again rising. "What did I tell you?" he shouted back and lowered his stance. "This isn't over until one of us bites the dust." He began to charge all of his Ki throughout his body and soon his body was also enveloped by a red aura that clashed with his dark aura. "Let's see if you can handle my most powerful attack!" he exclaimed and got into a crouch 4 point start. "FINISH BREAKER!" In the blink of an eye he closed the distance between himself and the mare and delivered his attack. The impact was so powerful it created a crater beneath the two, while the shockwave it generated, could also be felt by the audience. Luna was using bot of her hands to halt Trider's attack, but she didn't budge a single bit from her spot. The Kanisar continued his assault, until Luna pushed back, stopping his attack and pushing him away. Trider huffed, trying to catch his breath. "Dammit." he murmured. "That move took a lot out of me. I'm all out of juice." "Do you concede now?" Luna asked as she slowly approached him. Trider however cackled. "Until. One of us. Bites. The dust." he retorted, emphasizing each sentence. He once again charged at the mare, but his vision was becoming hazy and his body felt heavy. Luna watched as he approached her, slower then before, his aura flickering. "Might as well play along." she thought to herself ad got ready to dodge the attack. Now only a few feet away, Trider's legs began to give, making him stumble. "No!" he screamed inside his head. "Not until I land a single hit!" He gritted his teeth and pushed his body to the utmost limit. When he was only a couple of feet away from Luna his aura once again flickered, but for a split second it turned pure white. His movements became lightning fast , surprising the mare. In just the nick of time she moved her head out of the way of the Kanisar's fist, while looking into his now neon-blue eyes. The sudden burst of power surprised her so much that she instinctively teleported away. But as soon as she did so, Trider's body fell to the ground, the aura disappearing completely. She was still cautios, but after a couple of seconds of him not moving she noted that he was unable to fight. She began to slowly walk towards him and while she did so, she felt something running down her cheek. Wiping at the spot with her thumb, she saw that it was blood. She then quickly realised that his last attac, grazed her a bit, just enough to draw blood. Smiling to herself she reached her friend and looked down on him. "When you said 'when one of us bites the dust' I did not think you were serious." she said mirthfuly. "Shut up." Trider mumbled, his face still in the ground. "Come on. We better get you to infirmary." the mare said and lifted the Kanisar's body with her magic. "Put me back down and let me wallow in my shame." he said dramatically. "I do not think General Blaze would be happy with that idea." "Tell Whip to screw him." Luna giggled at his response and the two left the arena, while the crowd cheered loudly, for both of them. *** Trider was resting in the infirmary, when the doors to the room were suddenly opened and in walked Blaze and Green. "Hello Trider!" Green greeted merrily, while Blaze didn't say anything. "Great, just the ponies I wanted to see." the Kanisar replied sarcastically. "Don't give me the sass boy." Blaze growled. "You're lucky Princess Luna went easy on you, otherwise you'd be eating your meals through a straw." "That would still be better than to listen to you complain." Trider retorted. Blaze didn't respond back, but instead resorted to an angry glare. "Now, now. Let's be civil about this." Green said and jumped in between the two. "Blaze you have recruits to let your anger out on, so cut Trider some slack." He then turned his head towards Trider. "And you must remember that you are speaking to your superiors. So if you don't want to end with cleaning duty I suggest you keep your mouth shut." The two jsut scoffed and looked away from each other. "Stubborn like mules." Green sighed. "Why are you here anyway?" Trider asked. "Ah yes." Green said as he remember their reason for their visit. "First I'd like to congratulate you for an excelent performance." "Thank, I guess." "And secondly. We're here to give you the list of teams." he said as he handed the Kanisar a sheet of paper. "The others have already been informed, but since you're currently bedridden, we've decided to tell you in person." Trider didn't even glance at the paper, instead he gave the stallions a scowl. "Teams? What teams?" he asked confused. "The teams we've created throught analysing your abilities." Blaze began to explain. "If you make it into the Guard you'll have to work alongside others and in order to make it easier for you to do so, we team you up with other recruits in the Academy, to teach you proper teamwork." "Eh, I'd rather not." Trider complained. "i'm more of a lone wolf type of person." "Well too bad. It's either the team or you get kicked out. And I'm certain that Princess Celestia wouldn't be very happy if that happened." Blaze threatened. The two glared at each other, but eventually Trider gave up and sighed. "Fine. I guess I'll try." He then looked at the paper. "I wonder who the other members are?" He scanned over the list of the teams and thier memebers, until he spotted his name. Team #10 Members: - Trider Lykosgrothia - Frost Fire - Ace Quickpaw When he saw the last name his eyes widened and his body shivered. - Whip Lash Trider continued to stare at the paper, hoping he was reading it wrong. But he soon realised that it was for real.