//------------------------------// // 43 - Power Unrestrained // Story: Sweetie Belle Gains a Soul // by Bad Dragon //------------------------------// “Sweetie Belle, are you okay?” Twilight flapped her wings above me, veiling the sun. The world spun. I clenched my teeth and clambered on all four hooves. My horn charged up. I narrowed my eyes as I looked at her. “I expected you to shield yourself from my blast, that’s why I put some extra power in the cast spell. Yet, you didn’t erect a shield of any kind.” She sighed “Look, I think we both know that you’re outmatched.” “You’ll pay for this!” “Just stay down before you get seriously hurt.” “Argh!” She wasn’t even using her full power. If she was, I’d have more than just a few scratches to show for it. I presumed she wanted me alive, so she could disembody me as she had tried to do before. She held herself back and that played to my advantage. However, even with that flaw in her strategy, I had trouble disposing of her. Yet, in order to ascend to new heights, I had to bring her down, somehow. I charged the surrounding channels, forming a protective dome. I grumbled through my teeth. She forced me into defense. Somehow, I needed to gain the upper hoof again. I formed a sphere of energy inside my horn and projected it toward Twilight through the opening in my shield. She turned midair, and my ball missed her by far.  Flying offered her agility, while I was a sitting target on the ground. It would be hard for me to defend myself if she resorted to stronger spells. I could not afford to stay grounded. “Two can play this game!” I yelled and spread all four legs. “Oh, really? Last I checked, you didn’t have any wings. Unless you plan on becoming an Alicorn right about now.” “No, that comes later, but just because I might not be an Alicorn yet, it doesn’t mean I can’t fight on your level.” “My, my, aren’t you an ambitious little filly.” Another energy ball hit my shield. The endpoints held, but the charge of her spell was much harder to deflect than the earlier ones. I didn’t want to become a mere toy for her to play with. Yet, as long as my opponent was in the air with me on the ground, she held an advantage. “I’ll put you down, Twilight! My way.” “Come and get me then!” She smiled. What I was about to do would need quite a bit of my focus. That wouldn’t be so much for the controlled mana consumption but mostly for balancing the magic in equal amounts on all sides. I planned to do a basic levitation, but with one difference. The earth wouldn’t be the anchor point; I would take that role by levitating the whole Equus against myself. My eyes closed while I focused on the inner flow. I knew that I could keep up self-levitation since I had done it before. The first time I used it was when I had escaped from my room after my parents locked me inside. It hadn’t panned out so well then, but with my magic unrestrained and days of practice in the mirror cave, I could control my magic currents far better. I focused the energies but didn't release them from my horn. I channeled them down my body and through my hooves. They had to be spread evenly on all legs or I could get tripped midair, which would be dangerous by itself, even without Twilight attacking me. I didn't spread the shield across the entire ground but enough for traction. I didn't need to manipulate it. I just had to push it away. My hooves caught the glow. It spread to the ground. I increased the mana flow. The glow of my horn and my hooves shone darker. The force of the ground pushed against my legs. A fetlock bent as I stumbled in the air, trying to catch my balance. To fix myself in place, I imagined the channels being Pinkie Pie’s legs, countering my motion. The energy flows throughout my legs synchronized and steadied my swaying body. I closed my eyes and fully extended all four legs as I stabilized the flows. When the pressure of the channels equalized on me, I lengthen them. The acceleration strained me, yet I kept pushing the remote force of the ground against my hooves. If I wanted to outmaneuver Twilight, I couldn’t let myself be held back. The wind against my back let me know that gravity had nothing on me. I looked up at Twilight. She was pretty high, but I was closing the distance fast. Her mouth was agape. She stared at me as I ascended to her level. “Antigravitational spell?” she asked, raising both eyebrows. I cut off most of my mana flow, keeping only a basic stream for balance’s sake. I decelerated and stopped at the same height Twilight was on. “That's no antigravitational spell! You couldn't stop if it was. How did you manage to do that?” She looked down to the ground where my four anchored shields pushed Equus away from me. “Oh, I see. Clever Filly! I think even Starlight Glimmer would slowly clap if she saw you right now.” “How's this for clever!” I focused the magic in my horn. She wasn't Rainbow Dash, but she could still maneuver quite a bit. At such vast distance, she could dodge any slow projectiles. Small and fast was the way to go. The situation called for me to put Vancian magic into practice. I compartmentalized the energies within my horn. Clusters of self-sustained flows compressed as I infused the balls with an unstable flow. One touch from them and she'd be toast! I slid the formed energy balls through my horn and spread them in front of me. There were at least a hundred of them. They were small enough to cut through the air without losing much of the speed I was about to force on them. She wouldn’t be able to dodge the exploding storm. I formed the fifth channel and connected it to the floating balls. I didn't synchronize the charge with the other four active flows. Instead, I separated it entirely. Interference to my other four channels could prove deadly since I was high above the ground. I pushed the body flow toward the horn. But I didn't push out. Not yet! The energies compounded in my horn and pressed against the inner walls. My whole forehead felt as if it was about to explode, but I kept building up the pressure. If I was going to use the Vancian magic, I had to keep up an unhindered supply of mana. The higher the buildup, the stronger the burst. I coated my horn with another layer of shielding barrier, to contain the maelstrom forming within. It was time! The channel leading to my energy balls gained visible form and the shock wave spread across it, hitting the balls hard. They seemingly disappeared as several flashes flared the part of the sky where Twilight flew a moment before. Most of the balls missed because I spread them out in case she’d try to dodge them, but several of them did hit her. And even one of them would be enough to turn a manticore to a mussed flesh. The booms of explosions were like a melody to my ears. The chants of echo’s roar sung a praise about my deed. I smiled. My nemesis seemed to be disposed of, finally. Smoke from the blasts dissipated and there was Twilight; flying unharmed in her protective shield. Drat! The balls had, indeed, been fast enough, but my casting gave her time to raise the shield. I didn’t understand how she had managed to make it so powerful. Twilight exhaled deeply, and her horn lost some glow. “I see you're really determined to hurt me. It's time for me to get serious as well. I'll try to loosen your fall before you hit the ground, but I can't guarantee it. We can still stop this here and now, just say the word. Last chance, Sweetie Belle!” “At least you’re giving me a safe word in advance this time. Let’s see how you fare without one.” I lifted my head and grinned. “Give me your best shot!” She thought she could toy with me. It would be her undoing! “Be careful what you wish for, Sweetie Belle. I’m more than you know.” Within her shield she rapidly flapped her wings, quickly gaining elevation. She disappeared into a massive cloud spread above us. A lump appeared in the mist near her entry point. As soon as the water vapors clogged together to cover it up, a big, translucent, lavender ball descended from within. It wasn't just her in the shield that broke through. I could see two long cuts along the white mist. When I squinted my eyes, I noticed what caused the two slashes in the cloud. Her wings were spread out but weren't flapping. A magic aura coated them. It also spread further to the outside of the shield. I’ve experienced the enchantment of magic on her wing before. She intended to cut off my channels just like she had done when I had lifted a boulder for the first time at the magic training. If she was successful in her attempt, it would take some time before I could form new channels. Even if I managed to do it before I hit the ground, I’d be vulnerable in between. She’d have plenty of time to wrap her anti-magic spell around me. However, I wasn’t about to play along with her game. Not by her rules. In her zeal, she failed to see the obvious. The ground hadn’t been the only available anchor point. It was just the one I used at the time. I waited for her to get closer. She was coming at me fast, but I knew I could pull off the maneuver. “That's close enough!” Just before she slipped under me, I cut off all four channels from my legs and formed a new channel. It slung at her while charging up. The energies connected with the front of her shield and anchored the magic surface to me. I was too light to be much of a burden, but I only had to knock her off balance. Her weight alone would do the rest. As my endpoints rotated her energy dome, her trajectory curved down. She plunged ever faster toward the ground. My plan worked! It was as I had predicted. She had bound the shield directly to her energies. Because of that, the lavender sphere wasn’t a self-contained entity, and she retained control over its power. That’s how she’d been able to make it strong enough to withstand my bombardment. Twilight reattached her endpoints, correcting her trajectory. I tried compensating by moving my pressure points further up, but she was faster. She kept rotating the shield, slowly fixing her trajectory. I couldn’t move my focal points fast enough, but I didn’t need to. There was another way! “Hey, can I play ‘spin the ball’, as well?” I erected a shield of my own around the lavender one and squeezed it tightly. By binding the surface of my shield to my energies and not forming it as a self-contained entity, I could manipulate it like a doll. Even if she were to make her inner shield smaller, I could match it without losing any friction. My plan worked. Her diving angle got steeper by the moment. “Sweetie Belle, stop this! You’ll kill us both!” She dived headfirst straight down toward the ground. Right above her, I rode on my shield bubble with a grin on my face. “Let’s see how you like it when I take away your control!” We were in a vertical free fall. Even if I were to disband the shield around her at that moment, she'd have to be a Thunderbolt to recover at her speed. The ground was already too close for her to pull up. If there was no shield on her path, she could try teleporting, but the momentum would just slam her on the glade at a different spot. The impact on the ground was imminent. I increased the power of my shield around her. The solid earth wouldn’t soften her crash, but I hoped that my erect shield would dampen mine. Though, I still expected it to hurt a lot. Twilight jerked and looked toward the center of the glade. “Argh!” Her shield dissipated, but her horn light didn’t fade. It, actually, glowed brighter. She pointed it straight down toward the ground. As soon as I felt her channels attaching to the inner top of my shield, her charged channel pierced through the bottom.  I knew what she attempted. “Hey, no fair! That's my move!” She formed a channel toward the ground to counter both her and my weight. I braced for the crash. In a wide area under us, the grass instantly flattened. I slammed against my shield. The acceleration was almost unbearable. Twilight, on the other hoof, managed to keep up both channels—one to the ground and against my shield. I only had to focus on one channel and was at my limit. I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep two channels open under such acceleration. She was a worthy opponent indeed! We ceased falling just short of the ground. She gradually levitated herself down and released her channels as her forehooves gracefully touched the grass on the ravine. She glanced up at me. “This old mare can still learn new tricks!” I morphed the shield around her into a dome. That narrowed my channel to the shield and freed some of my focus. My energies channeled unevenly across my shield. But I guided them with a precision. Spiky bumps formed on the inside of the dome. I pushed them further and joined the pathways together to make them sharper. She spread her focal point to the inner surface of the dome. The shield wasn’t closing up on her anymore. She was spreading it further apart. Her focal points were shorter, and she didn’t need to balance herself in the air like I did. Shield spikes proved useless because she already spread the bubble too far and they couldn’t reach her anymore. I flattened the surface to save some focus. She spread my shield in all directions. “If you won’t let me pierce you, I’ll crush you instead.” I just needed to push up against something. Any heavy or grounded object would do... Twilight looked up at me through the energy barrier. “Searching for something, are we?” A grin embellished her face. “I lured you to the center of the ravine for a reason, Sweetie Belle. There’s nothing you can form your anchor points against. That’s your first problem. Running away to hide from me will be your next one. Both challenges will prove insurmountable to you. Your unconditional surrender would be the most logical action in this situation” I looked around, and there was, indeed, no structure around to push against. Not even a tree. Nothing. “You’re searching in vain. There’s nothing for you to find.” “I’ve heard that before.” My gaze shifted down, past Twilight, right to the ground below. Everything! My horn glowed so darkly that the waving aura engulfed my whole vision. I closed my eyes and felt my surroundings merely with the erected channels. I wouldn’t need my sight for what I was about to perform, anyway. My channels curved around the shield. Pushing down would just lift me back in the air. What I needed was an opposite force to put some pressure on top of the dome. Fortunately, I knew a little trick that Twilight had taught me. It would be like penetrating an egg but on a much larger scale. Instead of feeling through the shell, I would pierce through Equus. As I led my widened channels downward, I felt within the earth. The spread-out flow sipped through the ground. I locked my end-points to the bottom of the buried rocks. With the merger of channels at my horn base, all the upward force would instantly reflect itself as a downward force on my shield. For every force, there is always an equal and opposite force. I was about to put this law of physics to the test, and Twilight would be caught in the middle. Just the way I wanted. “Sweetie Belle, what are you searching for under there?” She could sense my channels, but knowing my plan wouldn’t help her if she couldn’t counter it. “Everything!” I yelled and pushed all my inner flows against the horn. The energy spread across my wide channel to every underground focal point. The earth around us shook. Smaller rocks levitated up. “Ugh!” I heard Twilight breathe out through her teeth. The top of my shield drifted closer to her. I reached the limit of how much energies I could seep through the ground. If I increased the flow further, the energies would react on the surface and push the earth down instead of drifting through it to the bottom side of the rocks. Twilight’s body tensed, and the shield expanded away from her again. I needed more force; more energy than the surface would allow me to channel through the earth.  After all the flows narrowed under my direction, I sent a massive pulse of energy through them. The earth rippled and cracked all around us. I drilled through it with my charged channels, leading them downward. Newly formed tunnels provided me with a lot more surface to channel my flows through. That strategy alone would only increase the pressure on Twilight’s shield two-fold. I wanted more! Compressing my channels, I dug deeper. They weakened while they lengthened far underground, but I still had enough power for the second phase. I spread the channels sideways into the earth, then curved them up all at once. The earth trembled while the pressure on top of the shield below me increased. Streams of dust gushed from the earth on several surrounding points as a few channels broke through to the surface. I cut those off because they didn’t yield any upward force against the ground. I focused on the ones that offered the most resistance. Those hitting the biggest rocks buried in the earth. Just by looking at Twilight's clenched teeth and twitching body, I knew the exerted force surpassed that of the earlier method by several times.  “More!” Earth shattered in all directions. Boulders around us slipped out through the cracks. I could feel each and every one at the end of my focal points. My body trembled, but I didn’t waver. “More!” The earth around us rose. “Ugh!” Twilight yelled. Her focal point contracted with each passing moment. The channel she used to keep me at a safe distance was almost obliterated. She was pushing past her limits. The fading lavender focal point could not hold the tremendous pressure. While her resolve waned, I slowly descended upon my victim to be. She couldn’t keep up with the strain. My energies were closing in on her. I felt the tip of her horn touch the inner surface of my shield. Her head was pinned down. The space she had left within the bubble was shrinking fast under my force. Only a narrow focal point remained above her horn. Despite her waning force, I felt a disturbance protruding through my constant flows of energy.  A fully charged channel pierced through my shield like a needle through a fabric. Electric discharges spread across it, destabilizing the structure. A shock wave of energy spread across it, shattering the magic construct to pieces. All my supportive channels were instantly cut as I lost my shield that was my only endpoint sink for the forces. I fell down along with all the surrounding earth and boulders.