Daughter of the First Reign

by LegionPothIX

Act 2 | Leashing the Beast

The first hoof-fall onto the field caused a complete change in countenance as predatory instinct took hold. Her movements were sleek and her fur stood on end. The gold glimmering gilt that accompanied the push and pull of her magic ruffled its way across her coat. A similar gleam showed in the corner her battered eyes that reflected her rising soul. The tour was kept short but the anticipation it built was overwhelming, and she was ready to explode by the time she felt the freshly tilled dirt under her hooves. Treeling looked across the yard to Sombra whom possessed a more refined demeanor and she could smell the tension in the air.

There had been only one established rule, no killing, and it took quite some time to convey that idea. The lines between play fighting and hunting were very grey in the natural world. Even still Sombra had an intimate understanding of how devastating that her version of play-fighting was. Stepping into the arena created a sense of reality to the situation. Though the Lt. was supervising Sombra knew the pegasus could do nothing if things got out of hoof.

As he cleared his mind it was overly apparent that the filly was waiting on him to spark the battle. He didn't want to be trapped in an illusion again, and steeled himself against that aspect of his magic by preparing a counter. He drew in a deep breath and let it out as he brought his magic forth. The filly had already established a perfect, natural, breathing rhythm that added a rumbling swagger to her stance. The moment he had his spell in mind she rushed at him, her horn lowered into a charge, but he interrupted it by shouting at her. "Magic!"

The filly's hooves kicked up dirt as she scraped to a stop, she had nearly forgotten why they were fighting in the first place, and gave a solemn look to the ground before taking a deep breath to reestablish her rhythm. Rather than waste her time with the warm up exercise that she would be getting tomorrow Sombra got straight to the point. His horn glowed a vibrant light black, a similarly colored beam of energy lanced forward from it, and struck Treeling between the eyes.

A small cloud of crystal particles leaked from her tear-ducts as they flooded her mind. Her irises thinned as her pupils dilated, and her jaw slacked under the strain of the images. They were different than when Nurse Clarity had invaded her mind, as they came from within, being agitated by the magic of the crystals.

Sombra had designed the spell to use tiny amplification crystal-fragments aligned to insecurity and doubt, to boost those feelings in the mind of a victim, and in a combat scenario this would create the crippling fear that the filly was demonstrating. The initial test of the spell was successful and he waited on pins-and-needles for the counter.

A counter that was slow coming as Treeling was having a difficult time with the spell. Her eyelids slammed shut, and squeezed out several small tears. After a moment her expression that was once filled with fear and sadness, slowly twisted into one of pain and anger. Her coat flitted, flirting with its golden gilt, as mane and tail radiated the smoky spell that gave them a form of magical flow only seen in the Celestial Sisters. The crystal deposits found themselves being expunged into her fur, which gave it a deep dark tint, and a glossy shine. Her eyelids burst open once more to reveal severely constricted pupils that tightened her focus.

Sombra wasn't a doctor, but even he could see the tell-tale signs of an adrenalin rush, and this one had the added effect of a blood stream full of crystallized amplification magic. The first counter—a reassignment of purpose—was clearly indicated. Sombra's train of thought was interrupted again when she charged at him, this time however, she showed no indications of slowing. She wasn't going to hold back.

With no time to lose Sombra fell back on old magic for defense, forming a crystal shard from his shadow, while crystal plate armor materialized over his body. A loud crack could be heard from the filly's impact with the crystal, which caused a smirk to creep across Sombra's face as Crystal Clarity made the same mistake.

The smug soon evaporated with the effervescent sound of crystal bubbling back into shadow that was accompanied by the gurgling sound of a growl coming through the stone. A phthalo green hoof rocketed through the crystal's remains and reached out for Sombra. The strike could be heard across the entire yard as the filly barreled through the crystal slush and his armor splashed to the ground.

When the crystal cracked a plume of smoke blew over Sombra that both the filly and the gathering by-standards thought had been a consequence of the crystal's sublimation. However, in the moments between her collision with the still-solid crystal, and breaking through it, Sombra had met her with a matching spell. Crystal mist radiated from his pores but his coat and mane remained unchanged. He looked down the length of her fore-leg, from the hoof on his forehead to her face, before he leaned his horn at her.

A brilliant flash of black light diffused in the charcoal fog from which the filly was launched. The magic had been blasted out of her, and she hit the ground hard in her native state. Her hair had lost it's oomph, and her coat lost its luster, though still held some residual tinting from partial crystallization in her fur. Lt. Hurricane called out to Sombra to when she rolled to a stop with a mouth full of blood and smoke, but she was determined not to be defeated. After struggling to get back up she coughed the blood out of her mouth through gritted teeth. The smoke wasn't hers and she didn't want to drop it.

Like the tether of the shield before it this one too possessed all the power she needed. She lowered her center of gravity and her eyes stalked her prey as she tugged at the cloud. One short jerk was all it took to rip the tether's source out of Sombra, but this time she didn't take it into herself. The cloud whipped into a wide arc before a deluge of the inky obtenebration splashed to the ground whereupon it was absorbed into the dirt. Victorious; the filly sat down and smiled her signature jack-knife grin.

"That's it? You're done?" Sombra mockingly asked as if she had just given up. She shook her head, tapped her chest with her hoof, and then pointed it at him. After a moment of confused stares a shooting pain ripped through his chest... he was having a heart attack. The filly slowly stood back up as the stallion crashed to the ground, huddled the fetal position of pain, he cried out what he was certain was the word "How?"

Combat medics rushed onto the scene only to be snapped at by Treeling. No pony was going to get close to him except her. Her plot plopped down near his writhing body. She leaned in so that she could see deep in his eyes, and in so doing she dominated his entire view so he could take a good long look at her. The crystals in her fur, skin, and hair were still present even though their power had faded. They were still spell traces. His crystals, however, were still in his blood. She had ripped the power out, but left them there, and now they were clogging his heart. Treeling bobbed her head in agreeance as the look of recognition filled Sombra's eyes. She leaned in and tapped his horn with her own.

A shock of magic filled his system and, as the crystals melted out of existence, he gave thought to the matter mage's adage. She truly had made something of herself.

With the imitate threat resolved the two were escorted to the infirmary for followup treatment. For how fierce that the medical personal heard the fight was, as reported by Lieutenant Hurricane, the wounds were surprisingly tame. The coronary damage to Sombra's cardiovascular system was minimal, and Treeling had just bit her tongue, cheek, and lip in the fall. Of the two they found it was more difficult to treat the filly on account of her their magic not working.

With her mouth stuffed with cotton balls Treeling tapped Sombra on the shoulder and presented him with a drawing. The montage of images made her sad when she drew them, and she was hesitant at first to even mention it. The progression started with her happy place, sleeping inside the tree, before the magic and the armies. Smoke poured in and she leaped out. That smoke had a magical aura, not unlike how he knew that she saw his own magic mist; however it wasn't coming from him. It was coming from a raging fire that had encompassed the entire highveld that her tree belonged on.

She wiped the slate clean and drew some more. The fire was being carried on the backs of termites into every crevice of her mother's skin when another pony appeared. She was drawn with the same flowing mane that Treeling had temporarily possessed during the battle. A smaller drawing with an arrow pointing to her head indicated that the mane, and tail, were made of the same smoke from her slow burning skin. The rest of her coat had been a pillowy soft ash, as indicated by a mound of soot, and her hooves were that of charred stone.

Treeling tapped the mare on the board then tapped her chest with the same hoof.

"Ash-veld?" Sombra asked.

She nodded, and drew some more. They fought under her mother's branches, and the heat caused her mother's leaves to russtle. That was when Treeling knew. She tapped on the tree she had drawn so many times before, but instead of the aura, it was ensconced in a ring of flames. Treeling drew herself drawing in Asheveld. It could never hurt her again because it was a part of her. Somewhere deep inside. The filly ran her hoof through her mane to show off the discolorations that were left over by Sombra's magic.

Sombra was at a loss for words. It was her first traumatic experience for since her mother's death, something that was made clear by the way she looked down to the slate, and as she wiped it clean with her face a tear smeared onto it. She drew a final image set for the night. The dragon that previously represented her, being slain by the sword she was to become, and her magical aura passing from one to the other. She wasn't the sword yet but she was so much closer now. At least she hoped she was because of how much pain the dragon was in.

<< Space Race | Night Life >>

Author's Note:

Leashing the Beast is a reference to White Wolf's animalism ability with the same name. It's particularly well know for its double edged tenancy to inspire both fear, and rage.

Comments

[The Fetish Unicorn]

It's a tragedy that I may never finish this story. Curse going on this whole Mlp fim endeavor in the closet. But this was definitely nothing short of a good story. It was worth putting all the things I had aside to read this story. You write a really good story and spark me to continue my own... if only I didn't have so much to write. But that's besides the point. I really enjoyed this story, and I thank you for writing it.