//------------------------------// // Hummingbird Heartbeat // Story: Take No Prismers // by Tangerine Blast //------------------------------// “You brought something.” Rainbow Dash arrived the next day bright and early, the sun just barely peeking out over the horizon. The morning was beautiful and perfect and Tempest couldn’t help but wonder if that was the Weather Coordinator's first attempt to show off. If so, then Dash was failing. Tempest could already tell their lesson wasn’t going to be as smooth as the sunrise. “Yeah,” Dash agreed, shrugging off her saddlebags, “You didn’t tell me how long this was gonna be so I figured I might need a snack.” She reached into the bags and pulled out a muffin. Even from a distance, Tempest could tell the thing was dense with flavors and calories. Made to give an energy boost even more than entice the taste buds.  “I told you not to bring anything,” she continued, eyeing the treat with distaste as Rainbow Dash dug into it. She had been living full time in Equestria for a few weeks now but she still couldn’t understand how frivolous the ponies here were with their constant luxuries.  “Nuh-uh,” Rainbow protested, crumbs flying from her mouth, “You told me I didn’t need to bring anything. Not that I couldn’t.” “You’re not always going to have snacks before a fight.” Rainbow chuckled. “With Pinkie Pie around? I doubt that. I swear that pony keeps five cakes on her at all times.” Tempest glared at the Pegasus. But Dash didn’t even flinch as she continued to cheekily eat her muffin. She clearly thought her argument unbeatable. “...fine. I’ll let this slide. But just be warned we won’t be stopping for snack breaks.” “Fine by me,” Rainbow said, finishing her treat, “Just don’t blame me if I wallop you cause you’re fighting on an empty stomach.” Tempest rolled her eyes. She was already regretting agreeing to this. “Are you ready to begin now?” Rainbow wiped her mouth off and flew over the fenced-in area so she was standing right next to Tempest with a perfect salute. “Ready and raring! What’s my first assignment?” “I’ll admit your speed is impressive,” Tempest began, causing Rainbow to fluff her wings proudly, “But your strength and endurance are still in need of improvement. So…” she gestured to a large rock that had not been there the day before. “I want you to break this.” Rainbow sized up the boulder, which was twice as big as she was, as if she was inspecting a rather large cake. Thinking of where best to take the first bite. “Break it, huh? With my hooves?” “Yes,” Tempest said, frowning at the little pony and her eased posture, “It may look impossible for one pony but-” “No,” Dash interrupted, “I’ve seen this done before. Course that was an Earth Pony so she kinda had an advantage but…” She turned to Tempest and grinned so confidently it actually took the Unicorn aback. “Rainbow Dash is used to doing the impossible. Hasn’t stopped me in the past and definitely won’t stop me now.” For some reason, Tempest found the determination infectious and couldn’t help but return the grin. “Let’s see it then. Show me the mythical Rainbow Dash’s best.” So, shoulders squared in preparation, Rainbow Dash punched the rock. And nothing happened. She took her hoof away and shook it out. “Wow, who knew solid stone could be made of such tough stuff.” “Giving up already?” Tempest taunted from the side. She struck her own hoof at the rock and a considerable chunk broke off, relishing briefly at the cocky Pegasus’s surprised look. “I told you to show me your best. Don’t tell me that’s all you have.” Rainbow’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Oh, you wanna see my best? You’ll see my best! Stand back.” Without really knowing why, Tempest humored Dash and backed up a few steps.  Rainbow glanced at her from where she was crouching in preparation and raised a brow. “Uh, like a lot more back. Trust me--you do not want to be too close to this.” Tempest rolled her eyes and retreated out of the fenced-in area. Once she had gotten far enough way that Rainbow stopped staring at her, she sat back and watched the Pegasus with mild interest, not sure what to expect.  She certainly did not expect Rainbow to launch straight up into the air.  Tempest’s head craned back as she tried to keep track of the light blue dot in the middle of the light blue sky. It was a futile endeavor, however, and, after Rainbow had stayed vanished for a good few seconds, Tempest had to conclude that her impressive camouflage was the intended trick the whole time. She got up and headed away from the training ground, trying to shake the sudden sour mood that assaulted her. Really, what had she expected? The little Pegasus obviously couldn’t handle what Tempest had in store but was too proud to admit it. Disappearing at the start of the first practice must have softened the blow to her ego somehow.  Tempest started reworking her schedule in her head, now that she didn’t have to waste time being a teacher, but stopped when a high pitched whistling irritated her ears. Turning, she glanced back over to the rock she had walked away from. The whistling was getting louder by the second and she rotated her ears to try and pinpoint where it was coming from. She only found its source, however, when she spotted the rainbow trail hurtling down towards the boulder like a brightly colored bullet of stupidity and destruction.  Tempest had only a moment to scramble in the other direction before the blur of a pony smashed into the earth. The boulder shattered into a million pieces and, kicking up dust and dirt that mingled in the sunlight and residual magic, created a rainbow-colored mushroom cloud.  Tempest was relatively unscathed from the event. She had only been knocked off her hooves and sent rolling instead of skewered on hundreds of deadly little pieces of shrapnel.  Once the dust had cleared enough for breathing, Tempest stood. Her hoof trembled briefly as she brushed herself off. If she had been closer… With a snort she brought herself under control and stomped back towards the training area where a good sized crater had replaced the once proud boulder. Rainbow Dash was doing loops in the air, whooping and hollering for her own glory, barely a speck of dust on her.  Tempest had no idea how she wasn’t a lump of broken bones at the bottom of the crater but at that moment didn’t care. She glared at the celebrating Pegasus and launched a firecracker of pure magic right at her head.  Rainbow dodged, of course, but the attack did grab her attention. “Hey! What was that for?” Tempest ignored her and gestured to the crater and mangled fence. “What was this stunt that you just pulled?” Rainbow paused and glanced down at the blast zone. Then she grinned proudly and struck a pose. “Pretty wicked, huh? You said you wanted me to bring my best. So I brought it!” Tempest took a deep, calming breath. “Rainbow Dash, why did you want me to teach you how to fight?” “This again?” Rainbow asked with an eye roll, “I told you! When the Storm King attacked I-” “-wanted to protect your friends but found you couldn’t, yes,” Tempest interrupted, coldly. “Then why, if you wanted to fight us off so badly, did you not just do this?” She gestured to the gaping hole and the shattered pieces of rock. “Why did you not simply blow my army up if you had this kind of ability the whole time?”  Rainbow jerked back as if Tempest had just slapped her. “Wha- I couldn’t have done that! We were in the middle of the city. I would have hit all of those party goers and even if that wasn’t an issue…” She glanced at the smoldering wreck around her uneasily. “...I would have… that attack could have really hurt somepony.” “So you want me to teach you how to mentally handle killing?” Rainbow choked on her own spit and almost tumbled out of the sky. “What? No! No, of course not! I don’t want to kill anyone!” “Then don’t pull crap like this,” Tempest growled, jabbing a hoof at the crater, “Being able to perform a large scale attack means nothing if you’re never going to use it. Breaking the boulder was supposed to be an exercise in building muscles and fighting techniques. Blowing it up only wastes both our times if you’re not willing to use the same move on your enemies.” Rainbow slowly sank from the air until she was back on the ground, ears folded against her head. “Oh... sorry… I guess… I guess I didn’t think about it that way.” She blushed and looked away, her nose scrunched in shame. “You said to bring my all so I just wanted to show you the full package you were working with.” Tempest rolled her eyes. “I’ve already seen your Sonic Rainboom. You used it to helpfully show me where to find Twilight and the rest of your friends. And even if you hadn’t, I’ve known about it since before we met.” Rainbow flinched. “Uhg, I’m really not having a good track record with… wait… seriously? You had heard of me before coming to Equestria? I’m world known?” “Don’t flatter yourself,” Tempest said, walking a bit away from Rainbow and the crater, “I did research on Equestrian defense before we attacked. A pony that could cause an explosion by simply flying fast enough managed to catch my attention.”  Rainbow was grinning like an idiot now. “Never even met and I managed to catch an empire general’s attention. Wow, I am good.” “Are we going to continue your training or are you going to stroke your own ego a little more?” Unfortunately, the dopey smile didn’t leave Dash’s face even as she flew over to hover next to Tempest. “We can do both, can’t we?” Tempest glared at her coldly. “Do not make me regret helping you.” “Okay, okay.” Rainbow waved her hooves in surrender. “I’ll be serious now. What are we gonna do since your first idea… uh…” She cringed guilty, “… didn’t work out?” “Since you obviously have no restraint when it comes to large scale attacks,” Tempest said, centering herself into a strong stance, “We’ll just have to work on your small scale movements. Hit me.” Rainbow paused and blinked dumbly at Tempest. “Wha? Hit you? Did I mess up that much you wanna pummel me again?” “No,” Tempest corrected, “I don’t want to spar. I simply want you to punch me in the chest. I wish to assess your posture and strength without having to worry about speed or strategy. That’s what the rock was supposed to accomplish.” Rainbow glanced at the crater a few feet away. “Ah. That makes sense. Are you sure I won’t hurt you?” Tempest gave her an incredulous look. “I’m twice your size. If you manage to hurt me with just your front hoof jab then I have nothing else to teach you.” Rainbow playfully slugged her in the shoulder. “Aw, give yourself more credit than that.” Tempest’s expression did not change. “Eh. Heh, sorry. No jokes. Punching time. I get it.” Rainbow dropped to her hooves and reared up on her back legs. “I’m guessing you don’t want me to be hovering during this.” “Correct,” Tempest said with a nod, bracing herself, “You’d be able to build momentum through your wings if you were flying. I simply want to see the power of your front hooves.” “Gotcha. Full front hoof power coming right at ya.” Rainbow drew back and, with little warning, punched Tempest right in the middle of her chest. When Tempest didn’t flinch she threw another one. And another one. Until she was sending a flurry of blows in rapid succession. “So, uh, not to doubt your teaching skills but what is this exercise supposed to help with? It’s not like I’m going to be doing this move in any real fight.”  Tempest grunted and shifted her stance so Rainbow was hitting her more near her center. “Of course not. But you have to start with the basics before you can move on to more complicated things. Don’t they teach you that in that little air show team you’re on?” Rainbow raised a brow but didn’t look up from her punches. “Well duh, but the fact that I’m a Wonderbolt means I already have the basics down. I’m strong enough that I don’t need some basic strength training.”  Tempest snorted and lifted a leg in the middle of one of Dash’s swings, catching the smaller pony’s hoof within her own and holding it still. “You’re a Pegasus which means your core is the strongest part of your body.” “Hey, let go!” Rainbow tried to pull her hoof out of Tempest’s grip but the Unicorn only yanked her closer, almost making Dash trip into her. “Which means your upper and lower body are going to be weaker than most of your opponents. You’re good at dodging, but once you get caught, what then?” Tempest pulled Rainbow close, pressing her foreleg around her back and pinning her wings.  The fur on Tempest’s chest itched as her and Rainbow’s rubbed against each other. The Pegasus squirmed, trying to twist herself away from Tempest, but wasn’t putting enough force behind it. Tempest could feel Dash’s wings twitching under her hoof and Rainbow’s breath, labored from the exercises, tickling her neck. However, Rainbow did not move her free hooves to attack the vulnerable areas she was so close to. Her limbs remained almost frozen in Tempest’s grip while her tail curled uneasily around her captor’s legs and her hummingbird heart pounded against Tempest’s ribs in panic. She was scared, Tempest was sure, and unsure how to react.  “What happens when your wings aren’t available and your friends aren’t around?” Tempest pressed the imobile Pegasus, “How will you save yourself if not every single inch of your body is honed to its full potential?”  Before Rainbow could open her mouth to even potentially answer Tempest twisted her hoof and swept Dash’s legs out from under her, throwing her onto her back faster than Rainbow could react. Rainbow groaned from the wind being knocked out of her as Tempest leered above her. “Your stance was unbalanced and you weren’t putting your shoulder into your punches. Try it again, and do it right so I know you’re capable of handling your own body.” Rainbow huffed and staggered to her hooves but that self confident smirk still hadn’t left her face. “Alright fine. Let’s do this thing for real.” Tempest couldn’t help but match it as they began again.