//------------------------------//
// Retreat and Space Pony Duels! 
// Story: Rainbow Dash's Hidden Power 
// by Mudkipman98 
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	On the way back to his ship, the commander began to ponder what could have increased that mare's strength so much.  It's like her aura just spawned up Call of Cutie, Modern Ponyfare 3 style and shot down his UAV.  At least, the shock was similar.  Now, he had to find a way to counter this new power.  He began thinking about higher gravity training aboard his ship, and about meditation to boost his aura.
Landing at the entrance to his ship, he gave the guards there specific instructions.  "If you see a group of six ponies, stop at nothing to kill them where they stand."  Well, at least as specific as he cared enough to give.  Trotting inside, he addressed his backup troops that stood ready just inside the ship.  They were all itching to crush the town with the rest of the army, but they understood their importance.  If something were to happen to the rest of the army or the ship, the remaining crew was to fill in.  
As he made his way to his quarters to get a new suit and to rest up and recover some energy,  he found his personal assistant and got another bagel.  Man, did he love his bagels.  After arriving, he dropped into his bed and sprayed some sleeping gas into his face to knock himself out quicker.  He was soon asleep, with all of his worries left behind.  
Opening his eyes, he found that he stood in a massive field surrounded by a few hills.  There was a warm breeze, and the scene was somehow relaxing.  Then, she showed up.  That cyan pegasis from before.  This time, however, she was white and her hair stuck straight up and back in spikes behind her.  She charged a blast of energy into each hoof and released them at the commander.  He tried to block it, but he was too weak to hold back the energy in each blast, especially when two of the deadly projectiles were threatening him at once.  He felt his forelegs break and his body fly off into the hills behind him.  He crashed into them, leaving a giant crater in the hillside.  As he lay in the dirt, broken, he saw the pegasis float toward him.  Without a word, she lifted her hoof, charged an even bigger blast, and fired.
The commander woke with a start.  He was sweating, and he had a fever.  The only time those two came in a combination after a dream was when his psychic subconscious kicked in.  This allowed him to experience possible realities through his dreams.  Was there really a chance that that one pegasis could kill him so easily?  Could she rise to such a level before he destroyed the planet?  He had all but forgotten about his plan to attack Canterlot as he lay in a shocked state.  Closing his eyes again, he drifted back into sleep, getting ready for a mental training session in his dreams.

/)*#*(\

Before the group got ready to leave again, Rainbow Dash asked Twilight to fix her wings, as they had not fully healed yet.  Twilight agreed, and did her best.  Rainbow's wings were still kind of sore, but she would live.
And so, the group began their long trek to these fabled Rainbow Waterfalls, eager to find out if there was any key to Rainbow's power there.  "Wait a minute," said Rainbow Dash.  "Rainbow waterfalls...  are you talking about Winsome Falls Twilight?  That's wear Applejack, Rarity, and I went camping with the crusaders!"  
"Wow Rainbow.  I didn't think about that.  Guess it's just as good a place to start as any."
With their new goal in sight, they changed course and began heading toward Winsome falls, a journey which would take a few days at least.  That is, if nothing set them back and they kept moving all day.
They had to pass back through Ponyville to get to the campsite however, and it was a sight to cause sore eyes.
Everything was in ruins.  Houses were destroyed and piles of ash were all that remained from fallen town's folk.  Tears began to fill Rainbow's eyes, knowing that she could have prevented this if she had just stayed to help defend the town.  Applejack noticed her friend's condition and went to her side.
"It's okay Rainbow.  I know you woulda fought to the last to protect this place, but we have to get to the falls.  There ain't no two ways about it."
"But how can I face them again?" sobbed Rainbow Dash.  "I abandoned them and left them to die by the hands of some crazy space ponies!  How can they ever forgive me?  Some element of loyalty I am."  
"No.  That isn't true, and you know it.  Besides, you sent that commando whatever guy runnin'.  I doubt he'll be fightin' you again any time soon."
"But just look at what's happened!" screamed Rainbow Dash.  She slowly swept her hoof across the landscape to show how much damage had occurred while they were gone.  Thankfully, some of the space ponies in the weird armor had fallen as well, their bodies in the street.  Yet, the buildings burning on the empty lane were a reminder on how much destruction had occurred that day.  "I don't know if I can do it.  If I can't succeed, all of Equestria might be destroyed."
"Don't think about that Rainbow.  You've got to get up, an' get on with yer life.  Come on.  We got rainbow waterfalls to get to."  Sniffling and picking herself up, Rainbow Dash slowly began to walk through the streets of their broken city.  Houses were caved in, buildings and businesses destroyed, and multiple booths in the market place were on fire.  The sound of a filly crying could be heard in the distance, while some of the space ponies were flying over head, completely oblivious to the group of six elements below.  However, three of these flying ponies noticed, and they landed ahead of the group.  One was a pegasis, one a unicorn, and the last an earth pony.  The one thing that confused the mane 6 was that all of the three ponies had been flying.  The pegasis was the only pony who had used wings; the rest used energy from their bodies.
"Well, look what we got here," went the earth pony, oddly speaking in a Manehattan accent.  "A couple a stragglers."
"Oh please Raj, don't start anything," said the unicorn.  "Remember, we were supposed to report to the boss if we found these six?"
The third and final pony, the pegasis, just stared at the Equestrian ponies with a hungry yet senseless look in his eyes.  "Oh come now Golem, shut that gaping mouth of yours," said the unicorn.  No doubt these ponies were going to challenge the mane 6 and attempt to kill them like they undoubtedly did to the other towns people in the immediate area.  
"You.  You terrible, filthy excuses for ponies," said Rainbow Dash, anger and pressure building in her voice.  "I'm so sick and tired of your senseless destruction.  All you do is hurt other ponies, robbing and pillaging their planets.  And for what?!  You're commanders enjoyment?!  YOU ARE THE LOWEST EXCUSES FOR LIVING THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN!"
Rainbow Dash's friends simply gaped at the lecture she was giving to these space ponies.
"Hey, we don't have to take that from you!" said the unicorn.  "Get them!"  Before any pony could blink, three beams of energy shot from the space ponys' hooves and slammed into Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, sending them back a few feet as their elements created a protective shield around them.  The elements lost a small amount of color then.
"That shoulda vaporized em," complained the earth pony, now identifiable as Raj.  "What happened?"
"Our elements protected us, you ruffians!" shouted Rarity.  "We'll be taking no such wounds from the likes of you."
And thus, a battle broke out in the street between each of the space ponies versus two of the mane 6; Applejack and Rainbow Dash fought the unicorn, Rarity and Pinkie Pie fought Raj, and Twilight and Fluttershy fought (if you can call Fluttershy's attempt at summoning up enough courage to use her element a 'fight') the 'hungry' looking one, Golem.  While each of these ponies fights' were tough, we'll be focusing on Rainbow Dash and Applejack's attempt to kill the unicorn.
Before either Rainbow Dash or Applejack could move, the unicorn was upon them, hitting them with wave after wave of magic attacks followed by energy bursts.  Rainbow Dash stepped in to take most of the hits, knowing that her higher energy level would help her element use less energy on shielding.  "I can't guard you forever!" yelled Dash.  "Use your element!"
Applejack did as she was told and began firing energy from the amulet around her neck.  The energy impacting the unicorn stopped him from focusing long enough for Rainbow Dash to charge up a significant amount of energy and release it at him.  The unicorn was knocked back in mid air, but soon regained his place in front of his enemies.  "You pieces of garbage," said the unicorn, charging toward them.  Applejack and Rainbow Dash soon found themselves on the defensive as a barrage of punches and kicks rained down on them.  Luckily, this gave Rainbow Dash another opportunity to charge up more energy.  As she used her element to block the physical damage, she began charging up energy, hoping to produce an attack similar if not stronger than the one she used against the commander. 
A gap in the unicorn's attack pattern gave Applejack time to get in a swift kick to the face, breaking the unicorn's nose.  As he recoiled in pain, Applejack yelled to Rainbow Dash, "Hit him now!"  Focusing her stored energy into her hoof, she built it up until she had a ball the size of the world's largest ball of yarn.  Applejack had to back away to keep from being caught in the blaze of energy.  With a swing of her arm, Rainbow released the ball straight at the unicorn.  He had no time to react before the ball hit him full on, engulfing him in its fiery blaze.  A scream was heard; then, as the light faded, a small amount of ash descended to the ground, landing in a neat pile.
"We did it!" cheered Rainbow as her friends rejoined her.  They had succeeded in destroying their opponents as well.
"Great job girls," said Twilight.  "Now, we just need to make our way to Winsome Falls and we'll be one step closer to being ready to kick these space ponies off our planet for good!"  Everypony agreed and began to enjoy their victory.
It was a short lived one.
Rarity yelled in surprise as the shield from her element broke from an impact by an energy ball.  A sound like glass breaking confirmed this as the shield shattered to pieces, easily visible as a deep purple aura.  A second shot within a second after the first knocked Rarity to the ground, pushing dirt up around her as she was driven into the ground from the force of the impact.  There floated the unicorn that was presumed dead.  His clothes were burned along with some of his skin, and his hoof smoked from his recent discharge of energy.  His pupils suddenly shrunk, and he crumpled to the ground having used his last bit of life force as an attack.  His body now laid in the center of the street, still smoking from Rainbow's previous attack.  Everyone rushed to Rarity's side as she began to slowly climb out of the dirt pit she had been driven into.  Lucky for her, the unicorn had used his last remaining life energy for an attack which, coincidentally, was not that much.
"My my, what horrid manners," managed the tired unicorn.  "Well then, we had better get moving before more of these brutes show up.  Celestia knows what might happen to my mane if I get hit by one more of those dreadful blasts.  I might as well just cut it all of if that happens."  Everyone chuckled at her comment, but felt dread for the hidden meaning behind it.  They all knew that if they took just two hits without the protection of their shields, then they were done for.
"Twilight, why did Rarity's shield fail like that?" asked Pinkie Pie, bouncing around the group despite what they just experienced.
"I'm not sure," replied Twilight, her eyes moving under their lids while she thought about it.  "The elements should have unlimited energy, but I've noticed that after using some, they lose some of their bright color."  Looking around at the group, it was obvious that everyone's element had darkened.  All except Fluttershy's, due to the lack of energy she had actually used in the fight against Golem.  "I'll have to do some more study on it.  For the time being though, we should try to avoid any sort of conflict until they regain their color.  I've seen them do so over the course of an hour or two, so we should be ready in case of more attackers within the next few hours."
"Okie dokie lokie," said Pinkie.
So, once again, (for what, the third or fourth time now?  I've lost count.) our heroes of Equestria continue on their way to the Winsome Falls, ready for whatever may lie in store.