The Yellow Trial
Part Two
Mahiri’s magic fizzled out, allowing him to fall into the dust cloud where Rainbow Dash had landed. Immediately, he was able to see the inner dust cloud highlighted in a sheen of red light.
“Ah, so it seems Kuvvet has come to your rescue yet again,” he called down.
Through the dust, he couldn’t see Dash, but he knew she was unharmed. After all, the embodiment of Kuvvet’s magic would never submit to such a feeble attack. He landed on another pane of yellow magic, well within the cloud of dust and red light.
Rainbow Dash’s eyes fluttered open, her irises a bright crimson and the stripe of red in her mane and tail radiating a flowing energy.
Mentally, she took stock of her situation. She turned her head, feeling the mangled rock of the floor shift against her left cheek. The red power of Strength was surging through her, aiding in the recovery of her senses. She regained her bearings in less than a few seconds.
Then she remembered how she ended up in a crater on the floor in the first place.
Mahiri descended further into the dust, keeping his golden eyes settled on the epicenter of the bright red light. Suddenly, something unexpected occurred. The red light was beginning to flicker out, being replaced by a golden hue. A large smile crept across his face in anticipation.
Ok, Rainbow Dash, Star Prism called to her from within. I do believe we’ve wasted enough time fooling around with our host.
Dash smiled; Star Prism’s words sounding rather humorous despite her situation.
Alright, Star. Let’s end this.
Dash’s mane was now a glowing mix of bright gold and deep red. She used her wings to push up, landing on all fours. Through the dust, the pulsating shine of Mahiri’s nerves was clearly visible, and she braced for her assault.
Mahiri was no stranger to the nature of sneak attacks. He knew Rainbow could see him; as he was looking at the intense brightness of her nerves. Their eyes locked, and Dash harnessed the power of agility once more to initiate combat.
She jumped, hard and accurately straight toward Mahiri, rearing back for a punch. As usual, Mahiri dodged, countering Rainbow’s blow with one of his own to her extended shoulder. She couldn’t feel the blow, but knew it hit since she was knocked back a few feet. Without her thinking about it, a prismatic square of magic formed behind her, allowing her to use it to push off from and get another quick jab at Mahiri.
To his shock, a beautifully crafted pane of prismatic glass-like magic had formed behind Dash, perfectly mimicking his own technique. She was on him again in a flash, an odd glow of yellow and red lining her cerise eyes.
In the next instant, Rainbow Dash’s hoof sank and twisted into Mahiri’s cheek, sending him flying into an uncontrolled spiral with incredible speed.
The smirk on Rainbow’s face was arguably the most satisfying she’d ever had, seeing her tormentor being fed a piece of his own medicine. Mahiri had to manually fix the dent in his cheek as he crashed to and skipped across the floor. Had be been actually alive, that kind of blow would’ve taken his head clean off. Still skidding, he released a burst of magic to levitate himself, flipping to all fours.
Dash could see Mahiri begin to right himself, and she took off as the prismatic pane of magic vanished from behind her. In two seconds, she was on him again, throwing punch after punch.
Mahiri began dodging, the force of Rainbow’s punches blowing him back whenever he had no choice but to block instead of dodge. The ferocity of Rainbow’s attacks matched Kuvvet to a tee, and her speed nearly matched that of-
“Oof!”
Rainbow had successfully landed a hard hit to Mahiri’s midsection, knocking the wind from him and sending him flying again. Instead of waiting for him to regain his bearing, Dash decided to strike while the iron was hot.
Again, the prismatic magic formed at her flanks, and she used to brace against to send her flying after her opponent. As they met, Rainbow attempted to land another blow, only to be roughly countered by Mahiri in mid-flight. He pushed her hoof away, simultaneously landing himself a solid blow to Rainbow’s belly with his hind leg.
Now it was Rainbow’s turn yet again to wince in pain. She was knocked a few feet up, and Mahiri fired a concussive blast of magic into the air right in front of her.
“Whoa! Watch it!” Dash yelled.
Mahiri simply smiled, pointing up.
Dash turned cold, hearing the sound of an explosion, tumbling rock and rushing air above her. She looked up, an unfamiliar outline of yellow encompassing several unseen and massive structures; falling straight at her.
She looked back to Mahiri, who had already darted away. Upon looking up again, she worked to analyze the rocks’ path of descent. She simply wasn’t fast enough to dodge the massive boulders, one the size of a common cart dropping onto her head and cracking like an egg against her scalp.
Mahiri was watching from his new position, biting his lower lip and fearing the worst. But as the boulder fell apart, and Rainbow’s wings were still beating, his frown of worry warped into a smile of admiration. My, my. A blow like that would’ve killed any other mage than Kuvvet. She truly does possess his magical prowess. He began climbing back to meet her on his panes of magic, watching her with utmost caution as she hovered. He moved closer, seeing a thin sheen or red magic highlighting her body, swirling as oil does on the surface of water.
“Tisk tisk, Rainbow Dash. The object it to dodge the rocks, not use your head,” Mahiri joked.
Rainbow simply stared straight, a bright prismatic pane of magic forming under her hooves. She folded her wings, dropping onto it. The yellow portion of her mane and tail erupted into a bright shine, and a sheen of yellow energy formed at her hooves in a circle around her. She turned, eyes now a unnaturally bright gold.
Mahiri nearly froze with fear.
“So. You want a fight? You GOT one,” Dash hissed.
Something was off about her voice. It sounded to Mahiri like a mix of his own and hers. He began to sweat, watching the fruits of his meddling begin to bloom into something he could never survive against.
Rainbow Dash was now the embodiment of his own power.
He took a step back, watching with visible horror as Dash’s prismatic magic extended to let her walk toward him.
“What? You aren’t chickening out, are you? I thought you were the boss here?”
Dash’s words mind as well have been spat as she neared Mahiri, eyes still a fiery gold.
“R-Rainbow Dash…” Mahiri stuttered, still backing away. “Think… you mustn't lose control.”
Dash paused her advance, looking around at herself. The yellow sheen of energy that encased her body shone brightly, her forelock was still blazing its bright yellow, and she also noticed the yellow stripe within her cutiemark also alight with a shining aura.
“Lose control? Nonsense, I feel great,” Dash said, eying Mahiri. “The mirror image of what you’re about to feel, Blondie.”
Seems her vocabulary has also been amped up a little. Vista… stay outta this… He thought, still backing away.
Dash was finished with Mahiri’s shenanigans. She had harnessed the Yellow Power to its fullest extent, and unlike before, she was ready to use it to finish him.
She snapped into action, moving far too quickly for any normal pony to see. The Yellow Mage himself was having trouble keeping up with her as she homed in, landing a solid punch to his face.
His helmet left his head, flinging from his horn like a ring-toss in reverse. The force had sent him flying with enough speed to create a mach cone around his body. Rainbow Dash wasted no time, using the prismatic fields of magic to follow him without using her wings. In seconds, she was in position to stop, extend her elbow and halt Mahiri’s flight by sinking it into his back.
A muffled exhale came from Mahiri as his back was bent unnaturally backward, Rainbow’s red stripe flashing to life upon impact and fading almost immediately after. She adjusted, creating another pane of magic beneath him and bringing both hooves together down on his cheek. He careened downward, smashing through the magical barrier headfirst as though it were a window. However, before he reached the ground, a yellow platform shimmered to life beneath him and only served to dampen his fall as he smashed through it.
He picked himself up, wiping blood from his lip and coughing some up. The strange fact that he wasn’t really alive made this seem surreal. He heard the clop of hooves on the concrete ground behind him, and he spun to face the greater power.
“Well…” He coughed again, dry this time. “I do believe you’ve gained quite the comprehension of my power…
Dash had walked close enough for Mahiri’s horn to touch her forehead.
“So,” Dash began in a harsh tone, “we done here?”
Mahiri looked her in her now golden eyes. As fast as he could, he shot his hoof at her face for a surprise hit.
Dash’s eyes flicked to Mahiri’s shoulder as a pulse of light, brighter than the rest, traveled down his back and into his foreleg. She immediately extended her wing, pushing it out in front in a blur of yellow-sheened cyan. Mahiri’s hoof sank into her feathery appendage, stopping a few millimeters from her nose. It was a perfect display of the Yellow Power.
Mahiri was again stunned at Rainbow Dash’s incredible reflexes. She had effectively mastered in twenty minutes the skills it had taken him all his life to develop. As he stood with his hoof entangled in Dash’s feathers, a smile snaked across his muzzle with a line of fresh blood from the corner.
He knew she had called upon the power willingly this time, as her calm demeanor remained in the face of harrowing odds.
Dash lowered her wing, taking Mahiri’s hoof with it. A single primary feather drifted down between them. She looked to her wing, shaking it a little. Her golden gaze shifted back to Mahiri.
“You just cost me a primary feather,” she said, her voice again interlaced with his own. “For that, I’m gonna cost you your teeth…”
In a flash, she spun with a pivot motion on her forehooves, connecting her rear hooves with Mahiri’s jaw. He was sent spiraling through the air like a rag doll, vortices trailing all four hooves and horn. He righted himself in the flight, flinging several knives at Rainbow.
She saw the glints of metal headed her way, and she jumped out of the way.
Seeing the knives would fail, Mahiri extended his magic outward, enchanting them.
Rainbow watched as the knives glowed a soft yellow, turning to follow her. She began shifting paths through the air, using her new found magical abilities. She formed one prismatic pane of magic after another, using them to jump out of the way of the lethal knives. When she would jump away, one knife would always lodge into the very spot on the magic she had occupied.
She had reduced the number of knives to only three, turning her attention to Mahiri once again. He had been standing on his own square of magic, controlling the knives like some sort of mad puppet master. An idea flashed in her mind - a way to end this. She knew he wasn’t alive, as her earlier attacks would have easily killed even the toughest ponies.
One of the three knives homed in again; Dash barely avoiding it and taking the loss of a sliver of glowing mane. The second knife had homed in, Rainbow hearing the whistle of air running over its razor edge. She twisted her body, feeling the cold scrape of metal over her right flank and shoulder. She landed on a new pane of magic, quickly jumping to avoid the third that squealed in from the left side. She began moving toward Mahiri, constantly moving to avoid the flurry of constantly incoming knives.
Mahiri’s mind and “body” were at ease, but his magical abilities were being stretched to his limits. Repairing the major internal damage done by Rainbow Dash earlier, along with keeping himself in the air and keeping Dash occupied from well over three hundred feet away had his horn glowing red hot from pure strain. There was no way he could hold her off for much longer.
Rainbow Dash had moved within close looking distance, seeing Mahiri in visible strain. He was losing his edge. She began moving faster toward him, astounded that her body was able to handle her extreme moves without tiring.
Must be that freaky magic… She thought with a smile. Her body was empowered with a supply of the highest end magic available, altering her muscles and to perform the extreme maneuvers. She could only hope it wouldn’t be a pyrrhic victory for her body.
“Hey Mahiri!” She called, still avoiding the knives. “I can see you slipping! Do yourself a favor and cut it out before I make you!”
Mahiri didn’t respond and for all Rainbow knew, he hadn’t even heard her. She didn’t like being ignored, and had now begun a full assault on his position. The knives had begun to chase her; Rainbow counting on them to match her speed. She began running, using the prismatic magic as a helix-style highway to bore in on Mahiri. With each step, she increased her speed, becoming a glowing blur of yellow light with the trio of knives hot on her heels.
Mahiri opened his eyes, seeing nothing but a flash of prismatic light as Dash halted her mad sprint with a final burst of magic, allowing her to jump high and watch as her plan was set into motion. Mahiri had taken his focus off the knives, looking to Rainbow with bewilderment. Her sudden change in path was soon made clear as the sound of three sharp objects penetrating armor could be heard.
Mahiri looked down, allowing his magic to flicker out. He fell to the ground, landing on his hooves, before losing his stance and falling to his belly. Rainbow Dash had fluttered down, landing a few feet away. She smiled wide, seeing the three knives protruding from Mahiri’s already damaged chest plate. He was breathing hard, a puddle of red expanding from under him.
Her smile instantly twisted into a frown, the realization that she had probably just killed him catching up with her.
“Oh sweet Celestia… I-I’m so sorry… I-”
Mahiri raised a hoof weakly. “H-Hey… Don’t worry. This b-body isn’t my own…” He assured her.
His foreleg dropped with a thud and he spit up globs of blood to the floor. His breathing suddenly ceased and his eyes glazed over.
Dash stepped back, a false sense of terrible guilt making her power diminish and her body revert to normal. She began to tear up, dropping to her belly and allowing her wings to go limp.
"M-Mahiri...?" She stuttered, her voice heavy with sadness and suppressed crying. "I didn't mean to... I mean... I-I..."
Star Prism could feel Rainbow's guilt and sadness, and he opted to reveal the truth before her sadness turned to anger that would be directed toward herself.
Rainbow Dash, Prism said as soothingly as possible, Do not worry. Mahiri's body is merely a very high level illusion spell. His real body died over one thousand years ago. He cannot be truly hurt.
As if on cue, Mahiri suddenly jumped up, removing the knives with loud slick noises. He dropped the knives to the floor, the clangs making Dash shoot into the air in fright.
"Hey!" She yelled, the scare angering her at first. Her anger suddenly turned to massive relief as Mahiri was standing tall, his wounds totally healed. The three holes in his chest plate revealed the golden coat on his chest, and the puddle of blood on the ground had dissolved into a mist of yellow.
She immediately swooped down embracing him in a tight hug. "I thought I Killed you!" She yelled, breaking the hug.
Mahiri shook his head and laughed a little before replying. "Oh, no. You couldn't do that if you tried."
Dash had a quick flash of challenge in her eyes, before the very thing she feared took her by surprise. Her body had succumbed to the extreme strain of the previous battle.
"Oh... no..." She slurred, collapsing to her stomach. Her muscles burned like fire and her eyes stung as though whiskey had been thrown in them.
Mahiri placed a hoof on her shoulder, smiling softly. "Rainbow Dash, I want you to know that your performance in the earlier fight far exceeded my expectations."
His compliment was met with a loud snore, and he chuckled with amusement at the snoring mare before him. He took something from his armor, setting it in front of Rainbow's sleeping form before using his magic to teleport away in a bright flash.
"Good luck, Rainbow Dash..." Mahiri's voice reverberated through the air as a farewell.
A bright ring of orange light surrounded her, and with a slight change in sleeping position, she sank into the floor.