"Focus Twilight!" Luna said as she channeled her magic into the circle.
Both mares worked tirelessly to keep the spell from collapsing. It was a difficult task, one wrong move and it could only end in disaster.
The library shook as the circle pulled everything towards it. The air became thick with magical energy, it was getting hard to breathe in the room. But they cannot stop, the summoning must proceed. Though Luna was reluctant to do so, she made a promise and she shall keep it.
This spell required more magic to succeed, but Luna and Twilight had some practice. This is evident with the White Fang they've summoned successfully. All of it led to this moment, something Luna was looking forward to. One she was sure to give her an advantage over Roman.
As everything sets in, a flash of light blinded the two just for a second. Once it subsided, Luna could not help but gawk at what came out of the summoning.
There standing in the middle was not a pony, but a human. She stood taller than everyone in the room, fashioned with three colors that stood out. Pink, brown, white. It would seem to be a common pattern for this human. The same woman Luna met in Roman's dream. Neo was her name.
The girl scanned her surroundings with a careful eye, being found in a mysterious land caused her to be defensive. An aura of death filled the room causing both mares to freeze. This was no ordinary human, she was dangerous and Luna finally regretted her decision on bringing this human into her world. Especially when those eyes of hers locked with Luna's. Then in a blink of an eye, the human shattered into a million pieces to reveal...
"Your highness?"
The princess was snapped out of trance, no longer was she in a room with Neo, neither was she in Twilight's home. But instead, Luna found herself in her stagecoach. It would seem that she lost herself in her thoughts about the past. She entered the eyes that stared at her soul, it was like a wolf looking down on a defenseless sheep.
Back to reality, her guards were checking on her. It looks to be she has returned to Canterlot, it would be best to do what she was here for. Luna still has business back in Ponyville.
Dash dodged and ducked as much as she could, with Adam's blade just trimming the ends of her mane. Numerous Legionnaires watched with fascination as the two warriors battled gracefully. As if she was a dancer, Rainbow Dash weaved around Adam looking for an opening. But the faunus was a skilled swordsman, he barely had any openings for a rookie like Dash. On average, he was just as fast as Dash without her semblance. This played a part in this fight, if he was not careful then she could land a hit on him.
He needed to end it quickly.
Dash lunged forward after finally seeing her chance, but she did not realize that it was part of Adam's plan. Quicker than anyone could predict, Adam jumped under her and slammed his hooves into the dirt, propelling himself into her stomach head first. Dash was launched to the sky as if she was hit by a real bull.
It took a second before Dash crash-landed back to earth, which concluded their battle, and Adam being named the victor. The guards applauded him, the White Fang members cheered and howled like animals. And Dash? She suffered on the ground as pain shot through her body.
"Too eager to see the trap laid out in front of you." Adam began to educate Dash on her mistake. "You attack and attack like a mindless idiot, no signs of progress on your part, which is just disappointing."
"Alright, I suck! Can I go now?" She said holding no interest in hearing his comments.
"If you do not grow as a Hunter, then you have no chance of defeating Roman," Adam said. "I will give you time to train, but if there is no progress in your skills, then I will have to increase the difficulty of our training."
He did not wait for an answer, Adam simply left Dash on the ground to do important things. The gathered guards started to disperse while the White Fang stayed.
"Great... I'm starting to miss Roman's training..."
"Not much of a training Dash," Applejack approached Rainbow Dash before helping the pegasus back to her hooves. "was more like readin' a how-to guide."
She wasn't alone, with her was Forge and his partner, along with Captain Bronze Oak, Applejack's mentor. It would seem that the group had just returned from training in the shooting range, but Dash wondered why Crimson Forge and Lockjaw were covered in soot. To which Dash brought it up.
"Oh, this?" Forge chuckled. "We were testing out our guns but instead of working properly, the bullet blew up and ignited the rest! Would've been injured if it weren't for our aura! Any comments Lockjaw?"
"Neksh tine, uwet 'e duh eet." He said "normally".
"Aye, you always had careful hooves."
"So those guns of yours working great?" Dash asked.
"Yeah, it worked out better than I thought!" Forge said proudly.
"Anyhow," Applejack cleared her throat. "you up for another round Dash? Been itching to let loose, and these guns of mine are achin' for some action."
"Sure, let me take a breather first. Need to get a drink before I go another round." Dash said.
But before she could even search for some refreshments, Dash cane face to face with a very short bat pony with familiar colored eyes. She froze immediately once she stared deep into those eyes of this bat pony, unsure why she was locked in a trance. There was just something about the color that bothered her the most. Was it magenta? No... They weren't violet or anything, it was a bit reddish. Perhaps they were ruby?
No...
It finally hit her, the reason why it looked so familiar. Cerise. That was the color of the bat's eyes. And most important, hers. They both shared the color and the oddest part was that this was a bat pony. Their race has only a few eye colors, such as gold or crimson red. Sometimes green. But this bat had cerise.
"Uh, hey?" Dash greeted but received no response.
The bat was wearing the Lunar guard armor, which indicates that she was one of Luna's. Odd thing was, Luna left yesterday. And surprisingly, the bat was awfully short for one.
"You need something?"
The bat smiled and raised a bottle of cold water, and she offered it to Dash. Which Dash gladly accepted to quench her thirst.
"Thanks!" Dash quickly downed the drink and felt her body rejuvenated from her previous battle. "What do I owe ya?"
The bat pointed a hoof at Dash, then at her gauntlets.
"You want a fight?"
Hearing this, a few Legionnaires stopped and looked towards the group in the center of the field, curious and attentive. Even the White Fang was watching, eager to see what happens next.
"I kinda got a match waiting for me..."
"Well actually Dash, Ah feel like we should book ours for another day. Just wanna see how you'll hold up against one of Luna's guards." Applejack said, eager to watch another fight.
"Well, if you say so." Dash turned towards the bat pony and took on a stance, right after she tossed the bottle aside. "Ready when you are!" Dash stated a fact, she was up and running for another round. Her blades extended out of her gauntlets, Thunder Blossom, so sharp that she could rend an ursa in two with just a single move.
The bat pony smirked, she unsheathed a simple steel sword, not as sharp as Dash's weapon but just good enough.
The two stood waiting for the other, a chance to end this fight in one decisive move. Quickly, the White Fang members started betting on a winner while the guards spectated so they could learn a trick or two from a Lunar guard. Applejack and the others had taken a few steps to avoid being caught in the crossfire if things got a little chaotic.
What some don't know, Ironwood was just passing by before he too became curious. None of his guards noticed him as of yet, something Ironwood hopes would last until the end.
The bat held her sword with one hoof while keeping her three hooves planted on the ground. Her blade rested on her shoulder, her eyes focused solely on Dash. Slowly, she approached the pegasus, the crowd waited with anticipation.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was in a panic. All her training goes against what she was witnessing. The bat was just walking towards her, not rushing. Her mind was on overdrive trying to predict the bat's next movement. And once again, she froze under those eyes. They were just an inch apart, Dash couldn't look away from her opponent. But then, the colors changed. This was the exact moment where the guard swept Dash's legs with one kick.
Instead of hitting the ground, Dash felt a hoof around her wing and was tossed into the air. Dazed and confused, the bat took advantage of Dash's state and attacked with a flurry of jabs. Only when the bat was satisfied did she allow Dash to hit the ground.
Every legionnaire couldn't help but applaud the Lunar guard with how quick she dispatched Dash. Even the White Fang was impressed. All except Perry. He stood there with his eyes wide open underneath the mask. His mouth agape as his heart beat like a drum.
"No..." He muttered.
Dash recovered quickly, glaring at the short guard, Dash activated her semblance. Electricity danced around her as she charged up for a lunge. With one step, she cleared the gap with her right claws pulled back.
Her weapon arched across but hit nothing as the guard ducked under Dash's limb. The pegasus tried with an uppercut, but her opponent stepped to the side. There Dash could see that the guard was playing with her. Especially with the way she smiled at the pony. Her eyes were back to being cerise, but Dash knew something was up. They were exactly pink and brown when she first struck.
Using another method, Dash blasted the area around her with enough electricity to fry a beowolf. To which the guard simply dodged by taking a step back. But that was what Dash hoped for. Before they could land, Dash launched herself at the guard and swung her claws at them.
They connected with the steel sword, and the smile on the bat grew.
Dash's speed grew with swing after swing. Her claws only managed to hit the flat side of the sword. Duck, dodge, and block. That was all the guard was doing which only frustrates Dash even more. Their blades echoed through the field as time went on.
And then finally, Thunder Blossom had gone through the sword and connected on the guard. Everything became silent as the two stood there, all eyes focused on both. They watch with bated breath.
Then the guard flashed her usual smile before walking away, with her broken sword raised. Dash was frozen in place, her claws held in the air attacking nothing.
Applejack approached to inspect. "You okay Dash?"
"Yeah..." Slowly, Dash lowered her limbs and retracted the claws. A hoof reached up to her throat. "I won..."
"You sure did," Applejack said proudly. "almost lost it but Ah knew you'd bounce back."
"Yeah..." She repeated like a broken record. Her eyes glued on her shaking limb, a single red stain smeared on her blue hoof. The source was a small cut on her neck, one caused by the bat pony.
"Woah," A Legionnaire spoke to his friend. "Those Lunar guards don't mess around, huh. They fight dirty, but kinda fitting."
"Right? They got this roguish image, being stealthy and such. Maybe we should get some of those guys in the Legion, wouldn't mind having that cutie around."
"I'll take note of that." Ironwood finally spoke, surprising every Legionnaire on the field.
Quickly, they gave a salute and excused themselves. All scrambled to look busy in front of Ironwood, but many failed as they slipped on themselves. The General sighed as he too returned to his business. Though his mind lingered on Dash's battle, something happened so fast that he had almost missed it. Dash's aura broke just when the sword did. Then the Lunar guard caught a single shard and threw it at Dash with a flick of her wrist. One could argue that the guard missed, but Ironwood saw that she intended to leave a small cut.
The guard was dangerous, and Ironwood started to question princess Luna and her decisions. He just hoped that her plans would succeed, or else...