//------------------------------//
// Duel 
// Story: Storm on the Horizon 
// by moguera 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 17: Duel

"Is it really you?"  Rainbow Dash couldn't quite wrap her head around the concept.  The previous day, she had been told that her friends were dead, only for one of them to show up out of nowhere.  Granted, it looked like the Wonderbolts had been lying about siding with the tribalists, but that only served to make things even more confusing.
The colt acknowledged Rainbow's question with a bob of his head.  "Yes.  I am me...last I checked."  His eyes flicked upwards.  "And he is him...I think..."
Before Rainbow could ask what the hay he was talking about, she was distracted by an impact on the floor next to her, jumping in surprise.  Looking over, Rainbow saw the listless body of an unconscious mare.  She was clearly one of Meadowlark's lackeys.  Looking up, Rainbow saw the familiar form of Storm Front as he descended, his meteor hammer whirling around one hoof.
"You're both okay," she said, grinning as tears of joy ran unabashedly from her eyes.  Once Storm Front touched down next to Dawn, Rainbow rushed over and threw her arms around both of them.  "I'm so glad," she whispered.
Storm Front reached up and gently patted Rainbow's shoulder in a "there there" sort of gesture.  However, he stopped as Rainbow's grip on the two of them tightened distressingly.  Storm Front squawked nervously as Rainbow tightened her embrace around them, making their bones creak.  Even Dawn was looking a little distressed.
"You. Unbelievable. Jerks!" snapped the rainbow-maned mare as she tried to crush the other two ponies in her embrace.  "Do you have any idea what you put me through?  I thought you'd died!"
Using the last of his flagging strength, Dawn lifted a quivering hoof and pointed accusingly at Soarin'.  "It was his idea," croaked the colt.
In a flash, Rainbow dropped the two before whirling about to face Soarin', who was looking like he'd rather face down a whole hoard of tribalist thugs than the single angry mare before him.  Setting back on his haunches, Soarin' waved his hooves frantically, trying to calm Rainbow down.  "Don't get upset.  It was kinda necessary.  We didn't want Meadowlark catching on to what we were going to do."  He quickly looked past Rainbow to the two pegasi behind her.  “Guys, a little help?”
Storm Front sniffed with mock indifference and turned his head away.  “I gave up one of my favorite shirts to your little ruse,” he said simply.
Dawn affected a look of studied innocence that looked completely and utterly out of place on him.  “I’m just a little colt,” he said in a ridiculously level voice, “I just did what the big ponies told me to because they're supposed to know better.”
“Guys!” squeaked Soarin’ as Rainbow continued to advance on him.
Rainbow Dash stalked forward, her glare intensifying.  However, she was brought up short by the body of another tribalist dropping between her and Soarin'.  The clash of wingblades up above drew the sky blue mare's attention upwards, where she could see that the battle had drifted directly over their heads.  The Cloudsdale Guard had joined the battle, but several had remained in the stands to usher the crowds of civilians out, doing their best to keep order while they tried to get the noncombatants away from the battle.  That left the numbers above in favor of the tribalists.  Rainbow had no idea where Meadowlark had managed to scrounge up so many supporters (1).  Fortunately, numbers hadn't tilted the fight in their favor.  The Cloudsdale Guard was better armed and armored.  While their armor made them heavier and generally less maneuverable than Meadowlark's unarmored forces, the Cloudsdale Guards knew how to fight in armor and their intense training more than made up the difference.  And then, there were the Wonderbolts...
Where the Cloudsdale Guard sported strong armor and carried wingblades, the Wonderbolts had naught but their blue and gold flight suits for protection.  More importantly, they didn't carry any weapons at all.  In spite of this, they showed no hesitation in engaging with the armed tribalist thugs, who carried wingblades and those heavy batons.  As Rainbow watched, a Wonderbolt clashed with one of the tribalists.  Rainbow caught the tiniest flare along the edges of the Wonderbolt's primaries as she slashed her wing like a blade itself.  To Rainbow's shock, the feathers sheared straight through the hard metal of the wingblade, leaving the tribalist thug baffled, staring in stunned shock at his wing long enough to take a hard hoof to the skull, sending him plummeting like a stone.
"It's a Wonderbolts trick," explained Soarin', who had followed her gaze up to watch the exchange, "You'll get to learn it once you're one of us, assuming you still want to be, of course."
Rainbow lowered her eyes to glare at the stallion, who flashed her one of his trademark goofy grins.
"Um guys," interrupted Lightning Dust from where she stood behind Soarin', "Not to break up all the fun, but we have some company coming."
A glance upwards confirmed her statement as Rainbow saw several of Meadowlark's enforcers coming at them.  She tensed, readying herself for a fight.  Soarin' crouched as well, wings spreading and a flicker of light tracing itself along his feathers.  Storm Front lifted off, whirling his weapon as he moved to meet the opposing force.  And Dawn...turned to face the opposite direction, directing his eyes across the stadium to the demolished wall, where a cloud of mist from the wall's remains still roiled.
Rainbow didn't have time to call Dawn on his inattentiveness as their enemy had already arrived.  She slipped sideways to avoid a downward strike from a baton and ducked under a slashing wingblade.  Rainbow drove her hoof up right into the joint where her opponent's wing met her back, dislocating it with the blow.  Her foe dropped, yelping with pain.  Planting her other forehoof, Rainbow bucked and slammed both of her hind hooves into her enemy's flank, sending the other mare skidding across the floor.
Nearby, Soarin's feathers cleaved through his enemy's wingblade and sliced through the flight feathers on the other pegasus' wing.  Unable to keep herself aloft, the enemy mare fell, just in time for Soarin' to chop down with his hoof, catching her just behind the head and knocking her clean out.  He spun about as two more approached.
Up above, Storm Front's meteor hammer was a blur, moving as though it had a life of its own.  He used his forelegs, elbows, hind legs and even his wings to control the weapon, swinging it through rapid arcs and circles, often changing the direction of the swing so fast that his opponent had no time to react.  At other times, the weight launched straight out like a striking snake.  None of the five ponies he was currently fighting had stood a chance, the whirling weapon bludgeoning them down so quickly that Rainbow couldn't even begin to see Storm Front's individual attacks.
A single solitary stallion stooped down on Dawn, intent on catching the colt off guard.  Rainbow turned, a warning on her lips as she prepared to spring and try to catch the stallion before he could hurt Dawn.
She caught the barest motion as Dawn's left wing seemed to move the tiniest of fractions.  In reality, the motion had been so blindingly fast that she’d only caught the tail-end of it.  Just as the stallion closed to within striking distance, his body was slammed by an invisible force.  Rainbow winced as her ears caught the snap and crunch of bones.  Dawn was apparently uninterested in being gentle right now.  Even as the stallion's limp form was sent hurtling away by the attack, Dawn's eyes remained fixed on the wall across the stadium.
"That was unexpected," he observed, "You are one of the few ponies that I have ever encountered who could withstand that blow, and the only one who could take it straight on without taking any harm."
Rainbow's eyes widened in horror as she saw the sun glint off of Perlin's silvery feathers as he stepped out of the hole he had punched through the wall.  He was completely unfazed, as though Dawn's attack hadn't even tickled.  The older colt shook his head vigorously before fixing Dawn with an amused grin.
"Sure knocked me for a loop though," commented Perlin, "Even if these guys can take the punishment, it doesn't change the fact that you can still slap me around like a piece of paper."
The two colts approached each other at a steady walk, each eyeing the other critically as their keen eyes took in every detail, preparing and planning for the next stage of their battle.  They both seemed completely ignorant of the battle going on above.  As they closed in, their movements got more deliberate, often moving a single limb at a time, as though they were moving pieces across a chess board.  Dawn took a single step, Perlin raised the angle on one wing slightly.  Dawn fanned his primaries out, Perlin dipped his head.
Rainbow tensed, thinking about moving to help Dawn, but paused as Storm Front dropped down in front of her, throwing a warning look in her direction.  "Don't interfere," he said, "You'll do more harm than good if you charge in carelessly."
"C-can you help," asked Rainbow nervously, her eyes fixed on the two colts.
Storm Front shook his head.  "At this stage, both of them are too thoroughly engrossed in their battle.  From his position, Dawn might very well be forced to respond to my interference as he would a direct attack.  Disrupting the situation between them is that dangerous now."
"But the battle hasn't started yet," protested Rainbow.
The stallion in front of her shook his head.  "They are already engaged mentally.  Those movements are the beginning of them feeling out each other's capabilities, how one acts and reacts, how one perceives threats and how one responds to them.  Even if they are not moving very much, they are already engaging in a fierce exchange on a mental plane.  The entirety of the battle could be decided up there."
Storm Front actually settled onto his haunches, a slight smile gracing his face as he watched.  "Dawn was much more passive when he faced us," he observed, "It seems that he becomes much more animated when facing someone closer to his level of skill.  He's certainly come a bit further in these past few weeks."
In front of them, the silent battle continued for a few minutes longer.  Then, both participants froze in place.  With a resigned sigh, Perlin relaxed his body, folding his wings back in.  Shaking his head, he favored Dawn with a rueful smile.  "I give up.  I honestly can't see any end to it."
Dawn relaxed as well.  "Nor can I," he admitted.
"I guess that leaves one choice then."
"Plenty more than one actually, but only one you are interested in."
"Figured that much out already?"
"You weren't making it difficult."
"No more talking then..."
The two colts blurred into motion, crossing the distance between them with lightning speed and meeting exactly in the middle between their previous positions.  Dawn lashed out with a wing, sending a shockwave of air barreling at Perlin at point-blank range.  Perlin's own wing lashed out, its razor edges actually slicing through the blast of air, parting it around his body.  Extending his wing fully, he lunged straight for Dawn, his feathers set to pierce the smaller colt like knives.  The clouds beneath Dawn's hooves scattered, launching him straight upwards as one wing sent another blast straight down where he had been standing, the space Perlin now occupied.  Perlin stepped into a slight roll that curled his extended wing back around him, interposing it between him and Dawn's attack.  The blast slammed him into the clouds, but Perlin avoided injury, pushing off into pursuit as Dawn rode the recoil of his own strike and launched himself higher.
The two flew straight up into the center of the aerial battle between the Cloudsdale forces and Meadowlark's tribalists.  Before the participants on either side could react, the colts came together again.  At such close range, Dawn couldn't bring his full strength to bear in a single attack.  However, Perlin's body would be easily knocked back if he blocked.  In a fight like this, opening up the range would put the older colt at a devastating disadvantage.  When Dawn's next attack hit, Perlin took it with one wing and shifted his own body off axis, deflecting the force of the strike, rather than taking it full on.  This put him into a position to swing his other wing in a slash aimed at Dawn's neck.
Dawn went into his own spin, practically mirroring Perlin's movements.  Sliding his own wing in under Perlin's, Dawn took a page from his enemy's book and used a burst of wind to deflect Perlin's attack up and over his head.  In this awkward position, Perlin chose to let his body move with the force of the counter and rolled away to avoid any attempt Dawn made to follow through.
In an instant, the two of them were clear of the free-for-all and out in the open sky.  They whirled about and charged along parallel paths, at frequent intervals changing their course to send them colliding together.  The two colts exchanged blows with such blinding speed that the average observer wouldn't be able to see any single strike, defense, or counter.  Instead, they raced along, leaving distortions in the air in their wake, their course taking them clear of Cloudsdale and out into the open sky beyond.



Rainbow Dash flared her wings, preparing to follow Dawn, but Storm Front forestalled any attempt at pursuit with a hoof to her shoulder.  "They are leading the battle away from Cloudsdale," he explained, "Out there, without any bystanders, Dawn will be able to use his full strength."
"Really?" asked Rainbow, shooting her friend a nervous glance.
To her surprise, Storm Front looked uncertain.  "I can't say for sure that Dawn was the one doing the leading," he admitted, "But even if he was, it seems odd that the other colt would go along with his plans so easily.
"That other colt...he seemed better equipped for close combat.  It would have been to his advantage to keep the battle here, instead of allowing them to end up in a place where Dawn has the room to move and attack freely."
"Maybe he's just cocky," commented Lightning Dust, landing next to Rainbow.
Storm Front shook his head.  "What little I saw of that colt tells me that he does not suffer from overconfidence to such an extreme."
"He's crazy."  All three of them turned to see Soarin', who had dispatched yet another tribalist enforcer.  "Perlin's something like a battle maniac.  He's more interested in an exciting fight than he is in winning or losing.  It's all about getting the opportunity to test his own strength."
"I see," said Storm Front, tapping his chin thoughtfully, "That certainly would explain his behavior."
"We have other things to worry about right now," said Soarin', pointing towards the stage.  They looked and saw that most of the tribalist leaders were apparently in the process of fleeing.  However, the way above was blocked by the ongoing battle.  None of them apparently had the presence of mind to try to blend in with the fleeing crowds, nor would they have succeeded in getting past the Cloudsdale Guards stationed at the exits.  Instead, they were trying to escape at the floor-level exits.  Most of them were traveling in a group for the nearest of those, but two had broken off and were heading their own way.  Rainbow's eyes narrowed as she zeroed in on the fleeing forms of Meadowlark and Sky Runner.  The crimson mare had evidently been able to successfully revive the former Guard commander after Spitfire had dropped him and had apparently managed to convince him that discretion was the better part of valor.
She turned to regard her friends.  "You guys go after the big group.  I've got a score to settle with Meadowlark."  Without waiting for a response, she leapt into pursuit, speeding after her two chosen targets.  Time to give you a taste of your own medicine.



Dawn and Perlin hurtled through the sky, exchanging blows until Cloudsdale had faded into a large blur in the distance.  Abruptly, they stopped, coming to hover in the empty blue expanse.  Equestria stretched out below them, looking like a patchwork quilt from this high up.  But neither colt paid any attention to the spectacular view, the entirety of their attention on each other.
"You've got to be one of the tougher opponents I've faced," commented Perlin with an excited grin, "I was hoping I'd lure someone truly strong out if I managed to stir up enough trouble with that rabble."
"I don't know about the 'truly strong' part," Dawn admitted, "Right off the bat, I could count two ponies there that were definitely stronger than me."
"True enough," agreed Perlin, "But a fight's no fun if it's too one-sided in either direction.  This way lets me enjoy myself a little more."
"So that's why you led us away from Cloudsdale," observed Dawn, "You wanted to remove any potential impediments that would prevent me from fighting at full strength."
The other colt's smile was the only answer he needed.  Dawn bowed his head slightly.  "My name is Dawn Lightwing of the Gale King."
"I am Perlin Bluestreak and I cannot lay claim to any named style."  Perlin gave his opponent a wide grin.
"I shall remember your name," said Dawn, breathing deeply as he began to draw out his power, "I will accept your generosity."  Dawn drew one wing forward.  "And I shall make you regret it."
Swiping the wing in a wide arc, the colt put the full force of both his body and magic behind the technique.  Perlin barely had time to blink before his world was swept away by the roaring gale of the whirlwind that appeared in an instant.



The sound of the tornado was loud enough to be heard back in Cloudsdale.  Rainbow looked up as she zipped along in pursuit of Meadowlark and Sky Runner.  She was rapidly gaining on the two of them.  To her relief, the two tribalist leaders were sticking together for the time being.  While that meant that she had two of them to deal with, it was better than them splitting up, which would force Rainbow to pursue one and allow the other to get away.  Although, if they did part ways, Rainbow knew which one she was going after.
The other two pegasi seemed to be emulating Rainbow's strategy from the other day; flying low, weaving between buildings in an attempt to lose her.  However, Rainbow's superior skill at flying definitely gave her the advantage and the gap between them was shrinking.
She saw Meadowlark cast a glance over her shoulder.  A second later, the two tribalists turned a corner, zipping out of Rainbow's view.  A fierce grin spread across Rainbow's face.  She saw the maneuver for what it was, a trick to break her line of sight.  Those two would do that for two reasons.  The first was to give them a means of evading Rainbow, since she couldn't see whatever maneuvers they were making around that corner.  If she didn't catch them before they made their next turn, she would be reduced to guessing.  The other option was to give them the chance to set up an ambush to catch Rainbow as she came barreling around the corner.
All of this occurred to Rainbow in the split second before she would have reached the corner herself, had she not abruptly turned her flight path upwards, hugging the side of the building and rushing up and over the roof.  Cresting the top of the building Rainbow flew over to look at the corner from above.  Her grin widened when she saw that, down below, Meadowlark and Sky Runner were indeed positioning themselves to attack her.
Rainbow had a few precious seconds left before the two ponies below deduced that she had caught onto the ruse when she didn't immediately appear coming around the corner.  So she immediately went on the offensive, diving down from above, her forehooves seeking the most dangerous target, Sky Runner and the large knife he was drawing from within his uniform.
Rainbow's hooves impacted squarely with the top of the stallion's skull, driving Sky Runner's head down into the packed cloud.  It was softer than hitting the ground, but Rainbow's hooves had done more than enough damage on their own.  Spinning about, she rounded on Meadowlark, who looked like she was getting ready to flee then.
"Give it up," said Rainbow, "You've already lost."
"Never!" shrieked the crimson mare, "I will never bow down to an inferior like you!"
She dove for the knife that Sky Runner had dropped, grabbing it with a fetlock and rising up to try and menace Rainbow with the weapon.  Rainbow Dash didn't even hesitate.  Meadowlark's weak grip and shaky posture indicated that she had next to no experience in wielding a weapon in that way.  A simple, precise chop to the fetlock easily knocked the knife away, leaving Meadowlark disarmed.
"This inferior mare can beat you at anything you try," declared Rainbow, "You've always been like that Meadowlark.  You'll use your followers, your thugs and enforcers to do the hard stuff.  But when it comes to getting your hooves dirty, you're hopeless.  What kind of superior pony can't do anything for herself?"
She half expected Meadowlark to just bull through the question, or simply shout more insults in a desperate attempt to get under Rainbow's coat.  Hay, with the way Meadowlark's body was trembling with barely suppressed fury, Rainbow half expected her to try and attack.  Instead, Meadowlark did something completely unexpected.  She threw a tantrum.
The crimson mare threw herself onto the clouds with an inarticulate shriek and pounded her hooves, howling with fury.  Tears boiled out of her eyes and her tail lashed wildly.  It was the better part of a minute before she actually managed to articulate words.  "Why why why why?  This isn't how it's supposed to happen!  You aren't supposed to do this!  I can't lose like this!"
For a moment, Rainbow could only stare, dumbfounded at the sight.  This was a mare who, as a filly, had made her final months at Flight School Tartarus.  This was the mare who had tried to strangle Ponyville and several other villages with drought to assemble weapons meant to inflict Celestia knew how many tragedies on still other ponies.  This was the mare who had tried to have Rainbow executed as much to settle old grudges as it was to further her cause.
But then again, deep down (okay, not so deep down), maybe this is what Meadowlark was.  Underneath all the bigoted speeches, the fierce pursuit of grudges, was nothing more than a spoiled brat, who dissolved into wailing cries the moment things stopped going her way.  Rainbow just couldn't come to any other conclusion.  Meadowlark was pathetic.
That was what Rainbow thought, until a hoof crashed into the back of her head, sending her tumbling forward, taking her turn at smacking into the packed clouds.  Her vision swam and her limbs trembled as she tried, but failed, to muster the coordination to get back to a standing position.  A heavy hoof descended on her back, pressing her down.
"You should pay more attention to your surroundings Rainbow Dash," remarked Sky Runner as he stood over the fallen mare.  In front of them, Meadowlark was getting back on her hooves, grinning and wiping away her crocodile tears.
Rainbow grimaced as the realization hit her.  Meadowlark's fit hadn't been real.  It had been a ploy, a play for time.  Meadowlark had kept Rainbow's attention on herself in order to give Sky Runner the time he needed to recover from the surprise attack and launch one on his own.
And Rainbow had fallen for it, hook, line and sinker.  She was mortified, too ashamed to be afraid, in spite of her helpless position.  This was ridiculous.  She'd been taken in by a fake temper tantrum of all things.
"You never were one to really use your head," chided Meadowlark as she walked over and sedately picked up Sky Runner's knife before tossing it back to the stallion, who caught it in his free hoof, "I suppose you're right about our plans though.  Ah well, we've gotten far enough along anyway."  She lowered her head, sneering at Rainbow.  "All that's left is to dispose of one meddling mare.  I wonder how Princess Celestia will manage when she's one Element of Harmony short.  Oh that reminds me...I still need to pay Klutzershy that visit I promised."
Rainbow grit her teeth.  Celestia help her, she was going to make sure Meadowlark didn't do anything in the future.  If only that stallion wasn't standing on top of her.
"Goodbye Rainbow Dash," said Sky Runner smoothly from above, "I will make sure your dirt-eating friends share your fate."
Turning her head as much as she could, Rainbow looked up to see Sky Runner raising the knife.  Damn! she thought as the blade began its descent.



The world spun like a top and, for a moment, Perlin couldn't tell up from down or right from left.  The powerful winds hammered him mercilessly from every conceivable angle, his wings unable to fully protect him as he was pounded again and again.  And to think, all this from a single attack.
Deciding to stop fighting the intense air currents, Perlin instead began to cooperate with their movements, merging with their flow.  As he did, his flight began to stabilize.  In a few seconds, he managed to fly clear of the tornado, using its own speed to lend to his velocity to avoid being pulled back in.  The cyclone itself was fading.  But the battle was just beginning.  As he came clear, Perlin realized he was a lot further away from Dawn than when he started.  Dawn's magic made him extremely dangerous at long ranges, where Perlin had no hope of retaliation.
At this distance, Perlin could barely make out Dawn's form as he hovered slightly above him.  The ebony colt's wings began to blur as they moved, each working independently of the other.  To Perlin's eyes, Dawn's figure began to ripple and shimmer, signifying a drastic change in the air density as a barrage of powerful attacks rushed his way.  By the time the rushing sound reached his ears, he was already in motion, moving to dodge the first even as his wing whipped about to slice through the second.
The Forward Wing Strike that Dawn had taught Scootaloo could be used to unleash incredible force by using both wings.  What Scootaloo did not know, and what Dawn had not shown her, was that with further development, one could learn to unleash that same kind of force with just one wing.  When demonstrating for Scootaloo, Dawn moderated his power down to the level of what she would be capable of once she sufficiently polished her technique.  However, he had long moved past the point where his own techniques had to be hampered by reliance on the typical form.  Furthermore, his month spent flightless had not been wasted as Dawn spent the additional time available to him listening to the inner voice of his own body and furthering his understanding of its function.  In his current state, he could easily unleash the same amount of power as before without having to worry about it dissipating over distance, making it the perfect tool to strike at his opponent from a long range.
"The higher you reach, the more your form shall become formless."  His Master's words seemed more pertinent than ever.
Meanwhile, Perlin was struggling to avoid, block, or otherwise counter the barrage that Dawn was sending his way.  He dipped and rolled, blocked and slashed with his wings, and looped about, carefully edging his way closer with each passing moment.  At times, he swept around wide, trying to keep ahead of Dawn's attacks before swooping in closer.  Sometimes, he lost some of the ground (metaphorically speaking) that he had gained when he was caught off guard and forced to block an attack rather than evade it, which invariably drove him back.  But with each successive moment, he gained a better understanding of his opponent.
It's not too bad, thought the cream-colored colt as he swept to the side, moving out of the way of another strike.  His sharp eyes immediately picked up two more blasts of air heading his way.  Even more importantly, he could pick out the area where the two attacks closed in with each other, the colliding air currents interfering with one another.  My eyes and ears are starting to adapt to him.  I can see the attacks coming.  And I'm noticing something else.
He dove straight into the interference zone between the two attacks.  The erratic air currents buffeted him, but didn't hit with anything even remotely approaching the force taking either attack head-on would have done.  An eager grin spread across Perlin's face as he rushed straight towards Dawn, who was launching another barrage.  As Perlin closed, Dawn tried to keep his strikes closer together in order to make it more difficult for Perlin to slip between them.  But, in reality, that was giving Perlin just the opening he needed.  The closer the attacks were to each other, the more they interfered with one another, creating safe zones where Perlin would be able to slip through and close the gap further.  He's hampering his own efforts.
Dawn's eyes narrowed as he observed his opponent's movements.  He's moving between my strikes, using the interference of conflicting air currents.  As I thought, his senses are already adjusting to follow my movements and read the air currents I send his way.  Dawn found himself smiling tightly.  It's just as I thought.  This opponent is not one I can afford to take lightly.
Most ponies would not have been able to pick out the indistinct visual cues of his techniques.  Because Dawn's attacks radically altered the air density along the path of his strike, the refraction of light was also altered, creating the illusion of blurring, bending and rippling.  The visual cues were about as visible as the shimmers of heat on a hot day, often even less so.  And most would not be able to react in time to the auditory cue the sound of rushing wind created by Dawn's attack created.  The air was already moving at near sonic velocities, which meant that, by the time it was heard, it was practically upon you.
But Perlin's senses had clearly adapted.  Not only did he see Dawn's attacks coming, but he was able to read their idiosyncrasies and find openings where most other ponies would have only perceived and impenetrable wall of air.  These were not the capabilities of a madpony who reveled in killing, not that Perlin had ever given that impression in the first place.
Perlin was barely shy of cackling with glee with each passing moment.  He was almost in range to make a decisive attack of his own.  Then, he suddenly saw his opportunity.  Swooping up and around, he went into an inverted loop above Dawn, planning his angle of approach carefully.  As expected, Dawn's eyes and attacks followed him.  However, what Dawn had not realized was that Perlin's movements had put him to the west of Dawn, the morning sun still rising behind the ebony colt.
Just as Dawn felt he could anticipate the path of Perlin's movements, Perlin's wings changed their angle.  The mithril feathers blazed as they caught the light of the sun and directed it straight into Dawn's eyes.  Already more sensitive to light than a normal ponies, Dawn's eyes were overwhelmed and he reeled away, slamming his eyelids shut in a desperate attempt to avoid going blind.
Gotcha!  Abandoning any further attempt at dodging, Perlin closed his wings, rushing in and diving straight at Dawn like an arrow.  The other colt would never be able to clear his vision in time.  Angling his wing, Perlin prepared to slice Dawn in two with the razor-edged feathers.  Too bad.  This was fun, but all good things have to come to an end.