//------------------------------//
// Vot 
// Story: Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot 
// by Equimorto 
//------------------------------//

The first thing Twilight did upon reappearing in the air above the fields where their fight had begun was throw up a shield around herself, and the first thing Stella did upon also reappearing, just a few metres beside Twilight, was fire a spell at the other alicorn, which the shield blocked. The second thing Twilight did was speak. "We don't need to do this."
Stella was against her shield, banging on it with her hooves and leaving cracks that spread farther with every hit. "Running out of tricks? Do you think I'm going to let my guard down again?"
Twilight's neck was tense, her horn bright above her eyes as she struggled to maintain her spell. "Please, listen to me!"
Stella's answer was bringing her horn down alongside the spell she'd been charging on it. Twilight's shield shattered and the alicorn was sent flying downwards. Stella followed that up by firing another spell at her, and Twilight was forced to fire one back to halt Stella's in its path. They remained locked like that for a few seconds, until a huge chunk of rock was sent flying towards Stella and the alicorn had to stop firing to grab hold of it and throw it back, dodging Twilight's blast in the process.
Twilight tackled Stella again like she'd done before, but the other was ready and put a shield around herself. Twilight's magic wrapped around the shield, pressing against it to keep the other in there. "We don't have to fight," she said, looking for Stella's face beneath the glow of their spells. Her own expression was tired, worried, shook at what she'd seen and done. "We could do so much more if we worked together. We could help save Equestria instead of destroying it like we're doing. You could be a hero to them."
Even masked by the colours of their magic, Twilight spotted a change in Stella's face. For a moment she hoped it was understanding, then the other's magic flared. The shield pushed past Twilight's spell and she found herself pushed back, throwing up a barrier to hold off blows she was sure were coming while the ringing in her ears calmed down. Stella broke through it, and before Twilight could make another she had a hoof on her neck, coated in the same spell she'd worn when tackling Stella the first time, burning her coat.
"I will be a hero to them," Stella hissed. Twilight fired a blast from her horn at her, point blank, but Stella fired one back. The tension of their spells pushing against each other so close to their sources was bending the air in front of their faces. "I will save Equestria. Defeat the Behemoth. Do anything else you think we might do together. And I -" she hit Twilight's barrel with her free hoof "- don't -" another hit "- need you!" she screamed, but before her hoof could connect a third time Twilight's hind legs hit her gut instead.