Rainbow Dash peered over the cloud she had landed on, gazing at the landscape below. She could make out the terrain fairly well from this altitude, and noticed a literal wall bisecting the landscape, separating the two sides of the land from each other. From this high up, finding ponies, unless they were concentrated in a large mass, was impossible. Of course this worked both ways, potential threats from the ground would find it impossible to spot her from her cloud. Plus her cyan coat helped her blend into the sky, so flying over the ponies below wouldn't be a problem, though her rainbow mane and tail were a minor issue.
Then there was Fluttershy.
Even Rainbow had to admit, the timid mare had flown with exceptional endurance, more than she thought was possible out of her slender frame. But Rainbow was sure that if it came down to evasive maneuvers, the yellow mare wouldn't last very long. Plus, a bright yellow and pink body plastered against a blue and white backdrop would be an easy target for anypony with the capability for attack a pegasus while flying. Adding in the fact that Sarlaka was hated here, the two pegasi were Elements of Harmony, and the ponies across the border were crazy maniacal racists who wanted to kill them, Rainbow knew she needed some kind of plan.
Feeling a body set down next to Rainbow, she spoke, “How you holding up, 'Shy?”
A soft panting escaped from Fluttershy, “Umm... I'm doing alright... I think...”
Rolling her eyes at the white lie, Rainbow looked back down towards the ground, “Stay here and rest for a second. I'm going to check out the fence down there.”
Not bothering to wait for a reply, Rainbow rolled off of the cloud, falling towards the ground. Feeling the wind against her mane, she lets herself free-fall for a few seconds, feeling the bliss of the lurching stomach, the slight sting in her eyes, and the deafening sound of the whipping air. Sadly, it ended all too soon, and she was forced to open her wings, catching the air as her trajectory turns towards the horizon. Back-winging, she gently drops herself on the edge of another cloud, and watches the ground below her.
The fortification appeared to be much deadlier than when she was inspecting it on the cloud above. The grayish wooden wall separating the two sides of the landscape is at least forty hoofs high, and every hundred there is a tower, standing high into the sky, at least half again as high as the walls surrounding them. The towers themselves are much more crude than the towers of Canterlot Castle, but also appear to be built much more for combat than ascetics; massive ballista adorning the tops of each of the squared towers is evidence enough of this. From her bird's eye view, she saw only a single gate, tiny compared with even the smallest of fortifications, only allowing a single pony-drawn cart to pass at a time.
The real strength of this barrier was the amount of ponies guarding it. The amount of ponies that were manning the battlements was simply staggering, Rainbow gave up on counting the amount around the gate upon reaching around one hundred ponies. Each was armed with a simple spear, rising vertically into the air, though there must have been some mechanism to drop this weapon down into ready position. Armor, on the other hand, as not nearly as prevalent, many of the ponies seemingly naked to the elements, with only the most ceremoniously garbed wearing simple robes, potentially hiding some kind of defense underneath.
Rainbow lightly chuckled to herself. For a region hell-bent on keeping pegasi out, they really weren't doing a very good job of it. Making sure that there wasn't any surprises hidden behind any corners, the cyan pegasus carefully took to the air, and made her way back towards where she left her companion. Debating whether to take a quick detour to perform a few aerial stunts, she quickly surmises that that would be the quickest way to become a target, and also spoil their element of stealth. Sighing, she lazily makes her way back to the cloud.
Landing with a soft thud, she notices that Fluttershy is laying on her side, her deep breathing regular and slightly slowed. Watching the yellow pony, Rainbow can't help but let a smile overtake her face. Even though Rainbow had apologized for her pace yesterday, and even slowed it today, Fluttershy was exhausted. Long distance travel was never Rainbow's thing, but at least she was strong enough from all of her stunt flying to make due. Fluttershy on the other hand, considering the timid mare's tendency to stay planted on the ground with her animals, was much weaker than a typical athlete, and was tiring at a much faster pace than Rainbow.
Allowing Fluttershy to rest, Rainbow looked at the mare's saddlebags. The temptation was too strong, and Rainbow found herself searching through the contents, careful not to awaken Fluttershy. Rummaging through the various tools and supplies, she eventually found the phoenix feather that Sarlaka had given her before they left. Admittedly, Rainbow wasn't very good at animals, but she never heard about a single feather of a creature giving such a great gift. 'Maybe that's how some of the Wonderbolts are so fast', she thought to herself. Shrugging her shoulders, she wish she had the time to test out how fast she could go with this baby in her possession, but once again resisting an impulse, she returned the fiery red feather back to its owner.
Hearing a soft muttering from Fluttershy, Rainbow once again turned her attention towards her friend. Nudging the yellow mare, Rainbow smiled, “Hey, time to get up 'Shy.”
“Wha... bu... I wanna... be a tree...” the pegasus sleepily mumbled. Rainbow giggled, and continued her nudging.
“That's nice Fluttershy, but its time to get up.”
Fluttershy's eyes fluttered open, and picked up her head, and looked around, “Huh? Rainbow? Oh dear... I'm sorry. How long was I out?”
Chuckling, Rainbow replied, “Only a few minutes. I checked out the border guard, and its pretty well defended. Walls, towers, and lots and lots of guards.” Rainbow's smile grew wider, “but a pair a pegasi flying high above should be able to get through no sweat.”
“Oh my. Well... if you think we'll be ok, Rainbow...”
Thinking to herself, Rainbow debated bringing up the menacing ballista that she saw on the towers, but decided against unnecessarily worrying the flighty pony before her, “As long as we stay high and fast, we'll be fine.” Fluttershy lowered her head at the word 'fast', which produced a questioning look on Rainbow's face, “Is there a problem?”
Looking up, Fluttershy's eyes grew wide, “Oh... yes... I mean no... I mean... I'm not as fast as you Rainbow... I'm only going to slow you down...”
“Hey now! Don't be so down on yourself,” Rainbow placed her hoof on Fluttershy's head, rubbing her mane slightly, “Besides, you have that feather from that chicken-thing that Scaley gave you. Didn't he say that thing would make you fly faster than me?”
“Well... he did... but I...”
Rainbow opened her wings, spreading them to their furthest extent, “Lets test that theory.” Flapping her wings slightly, she started to hover over the cloud that the two were situated on. Looking past the border she pointed her hoof at a distant cloud on the other side of the wall, “First one to that cloud there gets a prize.”
Standing up, Fluttershy visibly had more confidence in her stance,“What... um... what kind of prize?”
Putting a hoof to her chin, Rainbow thought to herself for a moment. Eventually, she grinned, and shrugged, “Not sure, but when I win, I'll think of something you can get me.”
Both mares, now having smiles on their faces, faced their white and fluffy target. Rainbow was smiling widely, the thought of a race finally giving her the high that she was desperate for. Lowering herself back down onto the cloud, she crouched slightly, her legs acting as springs, ready to launch her high into the air. Stealing a peek to her left, she noticed Fluttershy quickly looking forward, trying to hide her gazes at the cyan mare. Rainbow smiled wider, the thought of Fluttershy looking at her form to copy her stance was cute in some ways, but also fed her ego just a little bit. Rainbow licked her lips.
“Ready...”
The cloud that the pair were about to fly towards was just about two miles away. Doing some simple calculations in her head, Rainbow was trying to judge how fast she should go to maximize acceleration without getting tired too quickly, the best direction she should take to make sure she was on a straight path because of the crosswind she felt, as well as the proper angle of attack to best exploit lift her wings gave her while not sacrificing velocity. Rainbow never was one for math, but when it came to flying, her knowledge was much greater than she let on. Speed was her special talent after all.
“...set...”
Rainbow lowered herself more, giving her wings a slight beat, making sure they were loose and ready to explode with furious movement. Her position was flawless, coming from the years of grueling stunts and races with other pegasi. Stealing a quick glance towards her friend, Fluttershy stood completely still, yet only somewhat lowered. Her back muscles were visibly tense, and the rigid stature the yellow mare took plainly put on display her lack of racing experience. Rainbow knew this would be an easy match, even with the supposed magic leaf thing that Fluttershy had.
Yet, there was something that stirred inside Rainbow. She didn't know what it was, but it tugged at her mind and spirit. No matter how many times in the span of a quarter second that she tried, she couldn't shake it. Taking her eyes off of her opponent, she stared ahead, tunneling her vision so that all she saw was the finish line. The power in her legs and back begging to release their energy, and show off their might.
“...GO!”
She would forever deny it if asked, but that was the first, and only, time she ever threw a race.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Rarity threw her body to the side, barely dodging the massive set of claws that came crashing down on the floor, smashing the stone under it. “Twilight! Any bright ideas!?”
“Working on it!” she heard a voice from behind her yell, determination dripping from it.
Dodging again to the side, Rarity felt her mane make contact with a the gargantuan paw of the monster before her. Before the ursa could recover, Rarity exploited the opening that the failed strike had left. Igniting her magic, she yanked her sword, which had gotten stuck five minutes before, out of the ursa's shoulder. In a furious display of spins and flourishes, the weapon danced across the ursa's chest, cutting multiple gashes all along the beast. A deafening roar, and a tiny trickle of glowing silver blood, was the only response the creature gave in response to the attack. Flicking some of the blood off of her blade, she once again was placed on the defensive, forced to duck down, barely dodging another swipe of razor sharp claws. 'Its just a bunch of dirt clods... its just a bunch of dirt clods... its just Twilight with a bunch of razor sharp and deadly dirt clods...'
The two sides had been trading blows for the greater part of ten minutes now, with neither force delivering a decisive blow against the other. While a massive creature, Rarity thanked Celestia that they fought it in here, where it could barely stand on four legs, and not outside, where it could fight in a more open space and actually move.
Gasping desperately for precious air, Rarity found herself cursing her lack of stamina that either of her earth pony friends had. While magically Rarity felt fine, her muscles were screaming at her, her physical limit being reached and broken at least a dozen times so far this fight. Such was the price for deciding to get up close against the beast, and being forced to dodge attack after vicious attack. Rarity knew that a single good hit would be the end of her, and more than once she was forced to make a quick shield to cushion an otherwise fatal blow. But as long as the ursa was focused on her, and not the unicorn several hoofs behind her, she would accept the responsibility.
Suddenly, a crack of lightning arced through the air above Rarity's head, impacting of the ursa's flesh just below the collarbone. It stumbled, stunned for a moment, giving Rarity time to leap forward, pressing the attack. Pumping magic into her weapon, she maneuvered her steel blade to hover over the exact spot where Twilight had struck. Angling the blade straight, she intensified the power in her horn, and launched the weapon at a blinding speed towards the charred mark. Impacting the scorched flesh, the weapon went deep, eliciting another roar. Rarity smiled, seeing that only half a hoof worth of length was sticking out of the skin, knowing full well that even in a creature this large that that must have hurt.
In her smugness, she didn't notice the violet paw out of the corner of her eye.
She felt Twilight's magical aura encompass her an instant before the paw connected with her side. The magical aura still around her, Rarity squeaked pitifully as she tumbled through the air, slammed into the wall three hundred hooves away, easily hard enough to crack it, and crumpled to the floor. While indeed the three separate impacts were some of the most incredible pain she had ever experienced, the fact that she was able to breathe was a wonder. She was sure she had Twilight's magic to thank for her survival. Getting back onto her hooves, Rarity's head was still in a daze from the triple impact, and she stumbled. Her vision swimming, she coughed violently, spitting blood onto the floor, the sticky red liquid lightly coating her hooves slightly with red.
Hopefully, Twilight's quick spell was enough.
Hearing an explosion, Rarity looked up. Even through her slightly blurred vision, she saw the creature stumble back, hair around its chest either singed or still burning from the previous attack. Down below, the lavender unicorn's horn was still lit, her hooves still planted on the ground for balance. With a flash of light, Twilight summoned phenomenal amounts of energy, and launched it towards the ursa. The ursa was thrown back again, this time from an invisible wall of force slamming into its body. Twilight again lit her horn, preparing for another attack.
Before she could do so, the ursa let out an angry cry, and threw its right paw at the tiny pony. The deadly sharp claws stopped short, and Rarity noticed that the ursa's claw was now enveloped in an aura of magenta light. Confused, the behemoth simply attempted to move the immobilized paw, with no success. Instead of continuing the tug of war, the mythical creature threw its left foreclaw at the pony, only to have that paw immobilized as well. By now, Twilight's horn was letting off light so intense from the massive amounts of magic being dumped into these two spells, Rarity could barely see the scene through it. In a surprise, the ursa decided just to simply fall forward, attempting to body slam the unicorn. Twilight was forced to release her spells as she dove behind where she stood, barely avoiding the several ton ursa major.
Rarity started to limp over to the battle, determined to make some sort of difference. On the way, she noticed her previously discarded saddlebags were spilled open, her supplies, tools, and even the bag of diamonds were all lying on the floor. Grasping the gems with her magic, she removed the twenty six diamonds, most of which were four or more inches in length, from the bag. Ignoring the battle for a moment she focused her magic. Once again sensing very minute flaws in each, she split each larger piece into at least four pieces, until she had nearly one hundred diamonds.
One hundred deadly projectiles.
Coughing again, she tasted copper as she faced the battle again. Twilight was attempting to hold her own, blasting the ursa with a second bolt of lightning, and was honestly doing well, but unlike Rarity before, who was using her agility to avoid the blows, Twilight was spending magic for shield spells to block each blow, spending her precious reserves to compensate for her lack of physical ability.
Rarity launched a gem straight at the ursa, and it bounced off of the thick hide. Cursing to herself, she took another gem, this one much sharper, and shot it towards her opponent. The diamond sunk into the creature's flesh, and while she never saw the final resting place of the projectile, she knew it struck true from the pained howl of the murderous beast. Launching a dozen more, only a couple making it past the layers of fur and skin of the creature, Rarity hastily limped up to where Twilight stood.
“Twilight, what is the plan?” Rarity spoke, softer than she intended.
Twilight never took her eyes off of the now reeling creature, a result of the dozens of armor piercing missiles impacting him, “I have no idea Rarity. I don't how to kill one of these things! I don't even know if these things CAN be killed! The only thing I can think of is just for us to keep attacking.” Twilight charged her horn, firing a ray of light, which burned away some of the fur on the ursa. It was only then the lavender mare looked at the alabaster one. “That was a nasty hit. Are you alight?”
Ignoring the question, Rarity spoke, “At this rate, we aren’t going to last that much-” she stopped because of a ragged cough, more blood spilling out of her mouth. Her vision clouding for a moment and feeling light headed, Rarity looked up, “We need to end this soon.”
Twilight looked at the splotch of blood on the stone below, then up at Rarity, with a face of fear, “Rarity, you're coughing up blood...”
“I know, Twilight. I know. But if we-”
Rarity was interrupted by a paw coming towards the two of them. Fortunately, Twilight noticed at the same time, and the both jumped away just in time, forcing the monster to only crack the stone where its massive paw impacted. Landing, Rarity nearly fell over from the overexertion that the leap required, becoming woozy yet again. Looking up, Rarity launched a dozen more gems at the creature, with varied success, and the result being less painful, and more angering for the ursa .
Sparkling silver streams of blood now coating his fur, the beast sundered over towards Rarity, malicious intent in his eyes. Rarity launched a few more gems, but none of them seemed to phase the creature. Limping backwards, she knew that unless a miracle were to befall the two ponies, they were doomed. The ursa lifted hits paw to strike at the white unicorn, unable to summon the strength to move away, Rarity closing her eyes to welcome the end.
An explosion shook the room and the ursa roared, causing Rarity to open her eyes to see the events unfolding in front of her. Once again, Twilight had taken the front, and, using her magic, was peppering the ursa with successive bursts of force, minor cuts appearing on the beast. Throwing a paw at the unicorn, Twilight was forced to create a barrier to block the blow. However, instead of pulling back as had every time before, the ursa continued to push against the field, straining the lavender unicorn. Hairline fractures appeared on the shield as Twilight was slowly pushed into the floor by the pressure against her protective barrier.
The shield shattered.
Rarity could only watch as the ursa pushed past the failed spell, and, instead of swiping at the mare, grabbed her instead. Still stunned from the destruction of the shield, Twilight didn't resist as she was lifted towards the giant mouth of the monster, ill intent filling its mind. Rarity swore that she saw the creature smile as it brought its captive closer to its open jaws. Taking the opening, in more ways than one, she launched a dozen of her diamond-projectiles into its gaping maw. The ursa bellowed in pain as it nearly fell backwards, the lavender pony still in its grasp.
Recovering from the attack, it howled in rage, and tossed Twilight to the side like a rag doll. Twilight's small frame lightly impacted the ground behind Rarity, and skidded to a halt twenty hoofs later. Thankfully, the toss didn't seem like it was meant to damage, and thus the pony looked as though she would be alright... or Rarity hoped. Watching the ursa slowly move towards her, Rarity came up with an idea.
Taking a moment away from the battle, she gathered whatever gems that were not currently embedded inside the creature, a depressingly high number, and focused her energy into them yet again. One by one, in rapid succession, the gems split lengthwise, getting smaller and smaller in width, until she had several hundred one inch thick, four inch long diamond spikes.
Not a moment too soon, she turned back to the ursa, only to be forced to step out of the way of a paw, one of the deadly claws getting so close, she felt the point slightly graze against her side. Ignoring the new pain, and with a quick burst of magic, she rapidly shot the sharpened gems at a rate of nearly five a second into the ursa. Every single projectile in the spray hit the creature, no real aiming required at this close distance, with nearly every one sinking the creature's flesh. This onslaught caused it to stumble back, crying in pain. Rarity slowly circled the ursa, the silver blood matting the celestial creature's fur in ever greater quantities. For a fleeting moment, Rarity felt sorry for the creature she was taking the life of, and slowed her shots.
In the corner of her eye caught the unmoving form of Twilight.
In the other corner, she saw her sword stuck in the creature's shoulder.
Speeding up the rate of fire on her bullets, she used another tendril of magic to pull the sword out of the ursa's shoulder, the weapon now coated in the creature's blood. Angling the weapon towards the creature, she brought the weapon towards its face, the tip pointed directly at the ursa major's eyes. Pausing for only a second, she brought the weapon down.
Rarity looked away.
Never looking back, she repeatedly brought the blade down on the creature, the remaining gems falling to the ground as she tried her best to tone out the awful sounds escaping the behemoth’s mouth. Feeling a warm liquid hit her back, she heard the heartbreaking sounds of an animal crying in pain, followed by whining, then a whimpering. She continued until only the sounds of the sword impacting flesh remained. It only took a few seconds for Rarity to complete the task, but with the task she was performing, it felt like an eon. Near the end, she looked on as she brought down the final blow, the silvery liquid hitting Rarity one final time.
Wiping her face with her forehoof, and holding back a surge of nausea, she left the weapon in the creature. It was only then that she felt the debilitating dizziness within her again. Nearly collapsing, she used the rest of her willpower to limp her way towards the unmoving lavender mass. It took unbearably long to do so, but she finally dragged her body over to Twilight, and turned her over.
Twilight's eyes shot open, fear filling her constricted pupils. Quickly, she jumped to her hooves, only to nearly fall back down from the apparent light-headedness. Rarity moved to her side, letting Twilight lean on her, though she needed the support just as badly.
A weak smile joining the light coat of silver blood on her face, Rarity finally spoke, “Darling, for such a smart pony, your plans need work.”
“Hey, we won, didn't we?” Twilight responded weakly, “Besides, who needs a plan when you have the two most powerful unicorns in the world?”
“Well dear, I-” Rarity gave out a violent cough, tears forming in her eyes, the intensity nearly toppling over to the normally white unicorn to the ground.
Any smile that Twilight had on her face was replaced with a worried frown. “Rarity, if you're coughing up blood still...”
“Then I most likely have internal bleeding. I know, dear,” Rarity whispered in a monotonous tone. Her smile gone as well, she looked at Twilight, their faces only inches from each other, “Its not like there's anything we can do about it anyways, except hope for the best. Besides, I don't think its that bad.”
It was obvious that her companion was not convinced in the slightest, but Rarity knew when she said there was nothing either of them could do, she was right. Magic that could heal was extremely rare and inefficient, and the only pony they knew that was even potentially capable of helping her was many, many miles away, and even then, Rarity was uncertain if Fluttershy was skilled enough to treat internal injuries. Turning her head to her right, and saw the Element of Generosity still where they left it, almost humorous in that with the walls around the pair now crumbling, the floor cracked in many areas, and the ceiling collapsing in spots the ursa tried to stand straight, the space the element stood was pristine. Igniting her horn, she reached out to grab the-
A massive explosion materialized, the epicenter mere inches from Rarity's face, blasting the two unicorns back.
Tumbling on the floor, the two unicorns finally came to a stop near the far wall, the pair skidding almost one hundred hooves before they stopped. Groaning, the two unicorns somehow stood, the injuries from the blast were surprisingly minimal, with the only pain Rarity felt was on her forehead.
Rarity rubbed her face, “What was that?”
Ignoring the question, Twilight moved so that she looked into Rarity's eyes, “Rarity! Are you alright?!”
“Yeah... I'm fine darling. Only a headache,” she replied, still rubbing her forehead. Looking back at the necklace, she frowned, “Why did my element resist like that?”
“I'm not sure, Rarity. Maybe its protected against magic?”
“Even I know that... ugh... doesn't make sense,” Rarity flinched, the pain intensifying in her head, “Still, just in case that... is the case, I'll just pick it up the earth pony way...”
Rarity saw Twilight nod in the dim light, and the two of them started walking toward the necklace again. “You know, Rarity,” Twilight spoke, slightly more joy in her voice than before, “with how fast we did this, I'm certain that we are going to be the first back, which means we won't lose the bet. Hell, if we're lucky, we'll be able to pick out what the losing pair does. I know I have a few ideas for Applejack!”
“I... ugh...” Rarity stopped her walking, and focused only on the pain in her head, now growing worse. Worse than when the ursa swatted her against the wall mere minutes ago, “Twi... ugh... I...”
Instantly, the pain intensified tenfold, “AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!” Rarity screamed, the pain so intense, she was blinded, a blinding white light being all she could see through the pain. Putting her other hoof to her head, she collapsed onto the ground, rolling on the stone in agony.
Somehow, she heard Twilight, “RARITY!!!”
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
“RARITY!!! Oh sweet Celestia, RARITY!!!”
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“RARITY!!! STAY WITH ME RARITY!!!
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“... Is that... Oh Celestia... No no no no no... please no...”
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“... I'm... I'm sorry Rarity...”
“AAAAAAH-”
The screaming was suddenly cut off by a sharp blast of magical force coming from Twilight. As an alabaster unicorn lost consciousness, a lavender one could only collapse, her sobs echoing in the cavern, repeating her last three words through the uncontrollable sobs over and over again.