//------------------------------//
// Chapter 42 
// Story: Yes, My Lady 
// by Tatsurou 
//------------------------------//

Sebastian swooped gracefully into the sky, banking strongly as a blast of magical fire streaked past him.  Glancing down, he smirked as he saw Lucretia pursuing him, and led her higher and higher into the sky.  He didn't normally like using someone else's plan...but it was a good one.  He was glad Grell was never this thorough when it came to pursuing him...she might have got him.

Whenever it looked like Lucretia was losing interest in pursuing him, he would either dive in and slash with his talons or throw another bit of silver to slash her, aiming for her face, antennae, or wings each time.  As soon as he was certain he had her undivided attention again, he would lead her higher up.  Once he'd reached the height he was going for - too far to be seen from the ground except by raptor eyes - he began to circle.  He needed just the right spot...

"I know what you're planning," Lucretia growled out as she began circling him.  "It isn't going to work."

"Oh?" Sebastian queried as he swerved at an angle a real griffon couldn't have managed to dodge a blast of magical lightning.  "And what am I planning?"

"I know what you are, hell spawn," Lucretia hissed.  "You came up here where your Master's friends won't see your true form when you unleash your power.  But that won't do you any good."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow.  While it wasn't the plan, it would have made a good backup if he could get Scootaloo to order it.  "And why won't it?" he asked searchingly.  If Lucretia was in a talkative mood, he wouldn't stop her.  He then ducked as she lunged in, trying to strike him with her beak.

"I am enchanted with the strongest magics across many countries in this world!" she hissed out.  "My swarm have gathered those magics, until I am all but invincible!"

"Such magic always has loopholes," Sebastian pointed out dryly, moving back as he subtly herded the Queen to the right spot.

"True," Lucretia snarled.  "But mine was carefully chosen.  I have gathered enough power to match even the immortals of this world...and the magic is keyed such that only by mortal hoof might I be slain!"

"And thus why you were baiting the nobles of Equestria with promises of immortality," Sebastian observed.  "By the time you were forced to make a confrontation, no mortal would be able to gather magic or horse power to battle your hordes, and you'd be immune to anything the immortals threw at you."

"And why I destroyed House Wingshadow first!" Lucretia howled out.  "Only they knew of how to call on mortals who might find their way around my magics!  By the time anyone else could, I would be victorious!"

"So you did order their deaths," Sebastian observed dryly.

"Order it?"  Lucretia burst into maniacal laughter.  "I performed the 'sacrament' upon them while they still lived with my own hooves!  You may have saved their whelp once, but now she is mine again!"

Sebastian suddenly grinned.  "Thank you for that confirmation," he offered dryly.  "In return, I'll tell you why I've already won."

"What?" Lucretia demanded harshly.  "How could that be?"

Sebastian chuckled as he saw Lucretia was in exactly the right place.  "I'm not the one killing you today.  I'm the distraction."

And he folded his wings and dropped.

Lucretia gaped after him, trying to parse his meaning.  And then she heard the air screaming and the mechanical whine, and looked up.





While the Wonderbolts were the best of the best when it came to fliers in Equestria, their fliers were not all identical in skills or aptitudes.  In general, they could be sorted into three types of fliers: Power, Agility, and Speed.  This was important, especially for times when the Wonderbolts had to shift from stunt fliers and back up rescue teams to a true combat unit.  The Wonderbolts had three main types of weapons for their fliers, based on the type.  Power fliers worked best with polearm weapons, being able to put a great deal of momentum behind the blade to drive it into the foe.  Agility type fliers preferred the cutlass, delivering slashing strikes as they dodged and weaved around their foes.

But for Speed type fliers...there could only be the Mana Drill.  Unlike the drills used in mining or excavation, these hoof-held weapons were designed to draw from the magic of the wielder, with the spin speed determined by the speed of the flier.  This allowed the truly speedy flier to punch through an entire fortification to let others burst in.

And so of course when her enhanced Wonderbolt training shifted to weapon training, Rainbow Dash was trained with the Mana Drill.  A rather special one was strapped to her right forehoof even as she dove right now, one that was a relic of the Wonderbolts from the days of its founding.  It had been the preferred combat weapon of Admiral Firefly, and had been used so much it had taken something of a will of its own.  It had only been used a few times since Firefly's retirement...as it would only accept a wielder who could fly faster than its previous owner.  And now it was equipped to Rainbow.

She didn't bother trying to aim her dive.  She knew exactly what she was supposed to do and where she was supposed to do it.  It was up to others to make sure everything else was where it was supposed to be when she got there.  Her job was the hard one...not from the flying, that was easy.  The hard part was holding in the Rainboom.

That had been her orders.  She was to go to a specific point, as high into the sky as she could fly without fainting from oxygen deprivation.  She was to wait until she saw something rising towards her from below, and then she was to go into her dive, straight down just like at the Young Fliers' Competition.  At a specific altitude, she was to activate the drill...and trigger the Rainboom not long after.  The hard part of that was keeping herself close enough to Rainboom speeds so she could do it at the right time without causing a magic recoil before she got there.

The mach cone had already formed.  Lightning was already sparking along it.  She had to keep herself accelerating enough to keep the magic building, but not so much to unleash it too soon.  This was a bit like trying to sprint across a tightrope on one's hind legs blindfolded while juggling motor-blades thousands of feet above a puppy playground in the middle of a typhoon with her wings bound.

She loved it!

There it was, her target.  The Changeling Queen was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time.  Drawing in the magic around her, she focused it into her hoof before thrusting it forward to activate the drill.  It whined like it was digging through metal as the lightning along the mach cone focused into it, her other foreleg clutched tight to her barrel to cut down wind resistance.

The Queen looked up just in time for the point of the drill to strike between her antennae.  The spin of the drill sent Rainbow right through her without slowing down...and the Rainboom triggered right in the middle of her body.

Rainbow couldn't see the Rainboom shaping behind her.  She was flying much too fast for that consideration, even faster than she normally did post Sonic Rainboom.  But she could feel the air ripping, tearing, and wailing around her, like some insane shockwave was right on her hooves.  She kept going until she could catch sight of the ground.

"RAINBOW!"

She heard that scream and grinned.  If there was one thing to peak this day for her, it was knowing her number one fan - her little sister - had seen this awesome stunt!  At the last possible moment she pulled a 90 degree turn, shooting forward and grabbing five fillies, one colt, one dragonling, and one stallion in her grip as she shot away, now having time to look up.

She nearly lost control of her flight.  The Rainboom wasn't a straight arc like it usually was.  Maybe it was holding it in so long, maybe it was interaction with the drill, maybe it was using it to kill...but the rainbow-shockwave was expanding outward in a sphere, tearing the very air and ground apart as it went.  There would be nothing left of the box canyon or the tunnels underneath it when it finished.  She could see Changelings fleeing it in every direction, some actually being forced to ride the shockwave to get the speed to outrun it.  She was only glad she could see it was slowing down, and wouldn't expand too far.  The specific height dictated was now making sense.

"So...awesome..." she murmured in awe as she kept going, refusing to go into the arc to bleed speed until she was absolutely certain it would be safe.