//------------------------------// // Loop 59 Pt 2 // Story: The Time Thief // by Reading4HalfMyLife //------------------------------// Luna moved fast, faster even than Rainbow Dash, and had Astral not been prepared she probably would of have broken something. As it was, she managed to clumsily dodge the attack, hooves slipping on the sand even her blade shot up to block Celestia's. A faint twang was the only warning Astral got for Luna's blade Lumen, which came up from behind. She managed to hastily constrict a shield from behind, and Lumen shattered into Shards. Following her example, Astral split Aegis up into twenty four Shards, and the two Alicorns visibly blanched at all of the Shards. Capitalizing on their shock, Astral sent half her Shards to Celestia, and half to Luna, knocking their Blade and Shards out of the sky respectively as she closed the distance on the closest- Luna. She pushed off her back hooves and twisted, putting all her weight behind a standard flying kick. Luna brushed her off like she was a fly, and Astral had to teleport to avoid a blow from Celestia. She came out of the teleport, spinning on one back hoof until she once again faced the two immortals on her hind legs. Her face was pulled back in a grimace as she remade Aegis, keeping it by her side. Celestia broke up Lux and infused the Shards with Pegasi Magic, sending them moving much faster than the mortal eye could process at Astral, only for them to hit off of the shield that Astral had placed between them. The Unicorn was visibly strained from the bombardment of Alicorn level Shards hitting her impulsively made shield; sweat dripped down her brow even as her horn took on a second aura and she cast the Inferno Blast. Immediately, flames exploded out, turning the sand to glass beneath their hooves as it blazed pure white. When the flames retreated, Luna had withdrawn, while Celestia was unmoved by the heat, which Astral had suspected, her being the Alicorn of the Sun and all. It wasn't a very well cast spell, since she had to teleport while casting the concussive blast, but the power behind it made it shatter the glass that made up the floor as Astral vanished and reappeared, using a shield to hover over the broken shards of glass. Alicorns were, by their nature, incredibly sturdy and hard to hurt, so the broken glass wouldn't do much, except for maybe a couple of small cuts. Still, it was better than nothing. Speaking of which . . . . The missile spell was harder than the other spells, because it curved when you cast it, meaning it was easy to miss your target. Sure enough, two of her missiles completely missed Celestia while one of them managed to hit the ground under her, sending her stumbling backwards. Aegis broke and knocked twenty four of Celestia's Shards out of the sky, spinning out of the way of Lumen and dodging Luna's punch that instead hit Celestia in the chest, causing her to almost fall from the power behind it. Now would be the best time to take care of Celestia, since she was temporarily down, but Luna had broken up Lumen once more into twenty five Shards. Twenty four Shards bent backwards to hit them out of the sky, but one still managed to get through her defenses. Time slowed down, panic set in and think, think, thinkthinkthinkthinkthink- Her back was to Luna and her Shards, instead facing Celestia, so she couldn't properly see it. If she put up a shield, Celestia would recover. What about- no same problem with dodging. Astral acted on instinct, horn glowing as she spun around. Exactly three things happened: as she spun, she rose up onto her hind legs in what may of have been the most incredible performance of her parkour and gymnastics training yet. But even as that was happening, the air around her shimmered and glowed as she formed another Shard on the spot. The third thing that happened was that she used her momentum to punch Luna in the nose as she swung her Shard into her face. Letting out a grunt, Luna stumbled back, gripping her muzzle, which, like most muzzles, was actually very easy to break. While that happened, Astral charged up a concussive blast, this time putting all her power behind it, like she had that one loop where she had fallen sick from not using her magic. The onlookers would of have been showered in tiny fragments of glass had the blast not completely shattered any and all splinters of glass into nothing more than particles. Even Luna and Celestia, all powerful Alicorns, were thrown backwards from the sheer power of the blast. They tried to flap their wings, but dust and ash from the inferno blast was dancing in the air, obstructing their vision, giving no indication which way they should go. There was silence as Luna and Celestia went outside of bounds while the little Unicorn was still inside. No whispers, or gasps, or shocked exclamations. Dead silence. When Astral glanced at them, she could see the shocked looks on their faces, unable to fully comprehend what just happened. Astral turned around and left the arena, not bothering to look back. Goals Get a cutie mark Help CMC get cutie marks See Alchemy Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate Beat Shining Armour in a duel Beat the Princesses in a duel Travel