//------------------------------// // Control // Story: As the Raven Flies // by Amber Spark //------------------------------// “Again!” barked the drill instructor. “You sure you want to keep doing this?” Lieutenant Sunny Day taunted her opponent in Magic Ring Seven. “Surprise might kick my tail if I give you a bruise in the wrong spot.” “Don’t worry about her,” growled the unicorn in lightweight amber-tinted spellarmor on the other side of the ring. “Worry about me, Day.” “Suit yourself,” Day replied with a shrug. “If you really want to go best out of twenty, I’m not going to stop you. I’m having fun!” With that, Day unleashed a blazing wave of fire across the ring. Raven winced from her spot in the shadows beneath the spectator stands as Sunset Shimmer barely dodged the blast by rolling across the sand. But Day wasn’t about to give Sunset a chance to regroup. In an instant, the wave became a massive rainstorm of fire. Every bolt that cracked into the floor turned the sand to glass. Sunset dodged and weaved, but even she wasn’t fast enough. She yelped when one of the bolts slammed into the back of her armor. The impact almost drove her to the ground. As Sunset finally escaped the rain of fire, Raven studied the armor. She remembered it all too well. Princess Celestia—and the Captain of the Guard at the time—had insisted Raven learn basic combat magic, as her position made her a prime target. She’d been promised that the armor had been breezy and light, hardly worth noticing. Despite the claims by the Guard Research Division, it had felt like wearing a leaden coat. The helmet--little more than a knockoff of a fencing helmet with a hole for a horn--had been so stifling she’d barely been able to breathe. Sunset used a concussive shockwave to send the sand spiraling into a wall between them, but Day just laughed and blasted a narrow lance of fire through the dust. “Sunset, you’re usually more fun than this! Come on! Where’s the banter?” “Right here!” Sunset used Day’s beam to get a bead on the other unicorn, then sent a thick bolt of teal force straight through swirling sand. Raven couldn’t see Day behind the dust wall, but she did hear her yelp. Sadly, she also heard Sunset’s yelp when a lance of fire swept across Sunset’s chest. Yes, the spellarmor definitely protected against spells, but Raven winced when Sunset took a second shot to the chest. Still, it was training armor, so its primary purpose was to protect the user while providing a live combat-style experience. Hence, some genius had enchanted it to make the wearer feel any spell that made direct contact. Meaning when somepony in armor got hit with a firebolt, the impact felt like a punch from a very angry minotaur. “Enough!” Sunset bellowed as she rolled through the barrage of fire, dropping her dust shroud. She fired six shots—three comets of fire and three shards of ice—and charged straight for Day. Seconds after her spells hit, Sunset herself struck. The attack was so unexpected, Day couldn’t respond in time. Raven gasped as Sunset’s hooves smashed her opponent in the chest and sent the other unicorn stumbling backward into the sand of the ring. “Magical contact only, Shimmer!” barked the drill instructor. “Last warning! Do it again and I’ll ban you from the ring for a week!” Sunset muttered something Raven couldn’t make out. “What was that?” demanded the instructor. “Yes, sir!” Sunset shouted back, though Raven could hear something dark in Sunset’s voice. “Hey, Sunshine, look… we don’t have to do this…” Day’s posture became placating, almost pleading as she got back up to her hooves. “We can call it even! Even try a tiebreaker round after hours! Eh? Eh?” Raven blinked a few times. In her experience, the battlemage of the Sun House Guard was not one to try and call off a fight. In fact, she was the exact opposite. How long had they been sparring? Then again, the barely-concealed innuendo was exactly what she had expected from Sunny Day. “Oh no, you’re not getting off that easy! This is happening!” Sunset bellowed back as she planted her hooves in the sand. “Let’s just…” “Sunset?” Sunset paused as if gasping for breath, then reset her stance. “Just don’t you dare pull your punches.” “You’re sure, Sunset?” Sunset snarled and a staff of teal flame flashed into existence beside her. “Yes!” Raven gaped. When had Sunset learned how to conjure magical weapons? “Hold up...” Day sounded worried. She even took a few steps back. “Sunset… this isn’t a good idea. This isn’t like you.” Raven had worked with Sunny Day numerous times before. The happy-go-lucky mare was one of the best and brightest in Celestia’s Sun House Guard. A bit of what was once called a ‘prancer,’ but still, a good pony. More than that, she loved her work as a member of the Royal Guard. She lived to protect others. But the tone in Day’s voice told Raven one critical thing: she was worried she might not be able to protect Sunset. “Come on, Day! Stop holding back!” Sunset shouted. It was almost a shriek. “Dammit, Sunset…” the mare muttered, her voice barely loud enough to be heard outside the ring’s magical shields. “Have it your way.” At those words, Sunset launched her assault. With another bellow, she charged Day again, this time with her staff clutched in her magic grip. She spun the staff up and swung down hard as if going straight for Day’s head. There was a splash of light as Day blocked it with a conjured pike of golden fire. Raven blinked. At her last report with Commander Orchard, Lieutenant Day had only been capable of fire-based blasts and lances. Apparently, something had changed. The two mares grunted as their magics strained against one another. Then, there was a flash as both went for concussive blasts to their opponent’s right sides. The resulting explosion sent them spinning through the air in opposite directions. Day landed with the grace of a dancer, spinning her pike in her magic before taking a defensive stance. She barely looked winded. Sunset tumbled and rolled, sand flying everywhere, her helmet coming loose, her mane flying around her as she jumped back to her hooves. She didn’t bother with a stance at all. “Let’s see if you deserve your title, battlemage!” Sunset screamed as she chucked the flaming staff at Day and charged forward once more. Day snapped her pike up to deflect the staff, then met Sunset’s charge, the two mares colliding in a reverberating blast of shield magic. The two clashed in the magical equivalent of a drunken barroom brawl, the spells flying almost too fast for Raven to follow. Day’s fiery shockwave crashed into Sunset, but Sunset conjured a shield of ice that melted to slush in an eyeblink. Sunset’s staff swung back and tried to sweep Day’s legs, but Day caught it in time with the butt of her pike and tossed it over her head. That gave Sunset an opening. Celestia’s prized student unleashed a battery of golden crystal shards at the battlemage. Day staggered, but threw up a shield of fire, causing each crystal to explode on contact. Day tried for a stunning blow against Sunset with her pike, but Sunset conjured a second weapon—this one a blade of midnight-blue ice—and deflected the blow. Sunset laughed as she brought the blade around and slammed it down toward Day. The blade shattered against Day’s shield, but so did the shield itself. The explosion pushed them apart, before, for the third time, Sunset’s staff flew back to her. She screamed as the teal fire reignited to a pure shimmering golden flame that could only be one thing. Sunfire. “Oh, Sunset, no,” Raven whispered as she took a step forward, her blood turning to ice as she gaped. “Try blocking this!” Sunset roared as she swung her sunfire staff hard, aiming for Day’s left side. She didn’t seem to notice that Day had done the precise same thing with her pike. The other mare didn’t bother with any quips or comments. She just reacted as any member of the Sun House Guard would. Her new sunfire pike snapped into a textbook shield maneuver. She blocked the blow easily. Staff met pike and a miniature sun went nova between the two. The resulting explosion shattered the ring’s magical shields and blasted Raven—and everypony else in the vicinity—off their hooves in a wave of smoke and ash. Raven hit the ground hard, but she’d taken worse in her time. Despite the ringing in her ears, she scrambled to her hooves. Coughing and ignoring a few little scrapes, she rushed forward, blasting away the leftover smoke with a quick wind spell. Raven reached the ring before anypony else. The sight that waited for her made her heart lurch. In the center of the ring lay a massive scorch mark, as if somepony had loosed a fireball directly into the ground. Sunny Day lay on the far side, her helmet gone, scorch marks along the sides and flank of her spellarmor. The golden unicorn coughed up a few wisps of smoke and glanced around blearily with bright green eyes. The blast had singed her autumn-colored mane in a few places. Before Raven could say anything, a medic rushed to Day’s side. Raven’s eyes desperately scanned the ring… only to finally see Sunset Shimmer lying just a few feet away. Sunset’s helmet had shattered into little more than scrap under the force of the tiny nova. Half of her spellarmor had cracked, revealing too much of her singed amber coat. What hadn’t cracked had been burned so badly it was peeling. Her whole body was limp, but her chest still rose and fell. Raven breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Raven fell to her knees and pulled Sunset into her hooves. The motion woke the young unicorn mare with a start. Sunset pushed her fiery red and orange hair out of her face and looked up at Raven with angry teal eyes. “Where is she?! Where’s that damn… Wait… Raven?” Sunset coughed a few times, blinking away tears. Her eyes were red and bloodshot and she had thick bags under her eyes. “W-what are you doing here?” “I came to watch you,” Raven said soothingly as she focused and wrapped Sunset in red streams of magic. This kind of magic didn’t come naturally to Raven, but hopefully, the numbing spell relieved some of Sunset’s pain. “The Princess asked me to look in on you.” “Picked a really bad time,” Sunset muttered as another medic scrambled over. The entire arena milled about, looking confused and lost as if the explosion had muddled their senses. “I was busy.” Raven pulled her hooves back so the medic could do her work, but she didn’t let go of the younger mare. The medic—a lanky earth pony stallion with a brown coat and a rust-colored mane—looked like he might object. Then, he took one look into Raven’s face and decided against gainsaying her. “How is she?” Raven said, shoving her calm and collected demeanor over the panic raging within. It took far more effort than she expected. “I’m fine,” Sunset muttered as she tried to sit up. Raven snapped her magic around the mare and held her in place before the medic could even say a word. He nodded in thanks and he did his work as Sunset huffed. “Let me go! She didn’t tap out!” Sunset cried. “The fight is still on!” “This fight is over, Sunset,” Raven said. “She’ll need to get checked over by magi-medical,” the medic said with a sigh. “But it looks like a cracked rib and a bruised hip. Some burns along the chest. She might have a minor concussion.” “Woo. Another head trauma,” Sunset muttered as she waved her hooves in the air. “If I get one more, do I automatically get a Guard rank? Seems a requirement.” The medic shot Sunset a dirty look. “Somehow, I don’t think the Guard is going to want the pleasure of your company for a time,” Raven said as she caught sight of a rather imposing looking gray unicorn in full armor striding through the remains of the ring. “Huh?” Sunset blinked a few more times and squinted into the haze. “What are you talking about?” The medic glanced up, reminded them to check in with magi-medical and then fled before the newcomer could arrive. The armored mare was easily at least half a head taller than Raven, with a short-cropped pink mane, a rather sizable scar along her left cheek and the expression of a very displeased officer. “Hello, Commander Lightning Force,” Raven said in her most diplomatic voice. “Raven,” Commander Force said with a nod. “Did you happen to see the end of Miss Shimmer’s latest bout?” “I did, Commander,” Raven glanced down at Sunset. “I could have taken her,” Sunset muttered, staring at nothing. “She didn’t tap out yet! I can still do it!” Force ignored her and shook her head.. “Then you know the rules using unique powers—especially one like sunfire—in my rings.” “I can pay for damages!” Sunset growled, glaring up at the commander. “Just let me at her again! I’ve wanted to pound that prancing unicorn pansy into the dirt for years! Always so damn perfect. Always so damn… popular.” “I doubt Sunny Day would describe herself in either of those terms, Sunset,” Raven chided quietly. Force continued to ignore Sunset’s tirade. “If you were anypony else, I’d ban you for a year. However, Lieutenant Day seems to have a soft spot for you. She requested I grant you leniency.” “I don’t need any favors from her!” Sunset roared, but immediately winced and held her side. The numbing spell hadn’t been as effective as Raven had hoped, apparently, but that didn’t stop Sunset from making sure her voice was heard. “I don’t!” Force considered Sunset for several long moments, then met Raven’s gaze. While Sunset couldn’t see it right now, Raven knew what was going on behind the commander’s dispassionate eyes. She also knew the real reason for Force’s leniency. The Joint Chiefs of Staff—which included the Royal Guard and Commander Force—had been briefed as to why Princess Celestia had placed Sunset in a unique training regimen with the Guard. More or less. Emphasis on the less. The story was a fabrication of course, but a probable one. During the meeting, Celestia had announced that Sunset was being groomed to become the head of a new magical rapid-response team that would operate both in and outside of Equestria. Their mandate would be to contain and—if necessary—suppress any high-level magical threat beyond the normal scope of the Guard or any other branch of the Equestrian military. Due to Sunset’s special role in this, she required knowledge of military special operations methodologies in addition to extensive combat training. During the initial briefing, the Joint Chiefs had been ecstatic to get a unicorn of Sunset’s power and skill, not to mention somepony trained by Celestia herself. Raven sighed as she looked from Force to Sunset, who pouted in Raven’s lap, glaring daggers at Lieutenant Day across the ring, already out of her spellarmor and being tended to. For years, Sunset had enjoyed the challenge of her unique course of study with the Guard, pitting herself against far stronger earth ponies, far more nimble pegasi and multiple high-level unicorns at once. And then, nearly half a year ago, things had changed. And from the expression on Force’s face, Princess Celestia and Raven hadn’t been the only ones to notice. “I’m not giving you a break because of Day. I’m doing it because you’re a useful asset.” Commander Force replied icily. “You know your position within the Guard, Shimmer. You still take orders from the brass, including me.” Sunset glowered at her hooves. “A week’s suspension from the ring or any Guard-related magical training. Two weeks of physical training starting tomorrow at dawn at the Galeforce Training Center, Field B. Get yourself checked out by magi-medical before you leave. They may delay your PT, but not deny it. You’re dismissed for the day.” With that, Force gave Raven one more nod and marched off. “I hate that bossy old goat,” Sunset muttered under her breath, though Raven couldn’t help but notice that she did so after Force was out of earshot. “I could have taken Day!” “Sunset,” Raven said quietly as Sunset pulled herself away and forced herself into a sitting position, wincing again. “You lost control. That hasn’t happened in a long time.” “I made things more interesting,” Sunset insisted. “You struck with sunfire. Spellarmor could never withstand that. Sunset, you could have killed her. And yourself.” Raven tried to keep her voice even. “Why?” Sunset swallowed, not meeting Raven’s eyes, but not looking at Lieutenant Day either. “If you’re here, help me to magi-medical,” Sunset muttered. “Maybe another numbing spell will be enough to get me there.” Raven took a deep breath and let it out slowly. But, she did as Sunset asked and wrapped the mare with a numbing spell once more. It gave Sunset enough control to get to her hooves. Without saying another word, the young mare started limping toward a medical tent the Guard had set up nearby. Raven glanced back to Lieutenant Day, only to find the young unicorn guard staring straight at her. Day looked to be in far better condition than Sunset. She was already on her hooves, talking quietly with a few other members of the Sun House Guard. Day gave Raven a little nod of respect, which Raven returned. Then, Day’s eyes slid to the retreating form of Sunset Shimmer. Her lips formed a thin line. In her time as an aide for Princess Celestia, Raven had learned to read others very well—pony or otherwise. What she saw in Sunny Day’s expression told her everything Raven needed to know. Day wasn’t worried about Sunset. She was terrified for her. Day had noticed Sunset’s slow slide in recent months too. Unsurprising, as the Sun House Guard battlemage was the only unicorn who could actually match Sunset blow-for-blow. Day’s face twisted into a mask of pain, then she pointedly looked at Raven. Day’s expression made it very clear what she wanted Raven to do. It just so happened that was what Raven had intended on doing. She gave Lieutenant Day a single nod. The mare returned it. Then, Raven turned and trotted to catch up with Sunset.