The Reiter Pony War

by ASDeckard

8: The Second Week

Rainbow Dash wasn't quite sure what she was expecting from this whole joining the army affair, but this wasn't it. After a full week of training Luna had added nothing to their regime. Every night a two hour sprint followed by nearly ten hours of Luna's Game. Rainbow Dash simply called it tag, because to her that was all it really was, but Luna insisted there was more to it than that.

The game was simple enough; tag the opponent without being tagged yourself. It was kind of fun at first, but even as tried as she was no pony or griffon could touch her if Rainbow was paying even half attention, and she was rapidly getting board. Rapidfire had proved to be close to matching Rainbow at first, but after figuring out her few trick moves and developing counters to them even she couldn't put up much of a fight. The small griffon Procyon, while much faster than the larger griffon Rainbow had fought the day they arrived, was still far too slow to catch her.

Twilight had actually been the hardest to beat out of everyone here. By using her teleportation it simply wasn't possible to close in on her, and she could attack from any direction at any time. This had stumped Rainbow at first, and Twilight even won two matches against her, but soon Rainbow figured it out; anytime she heard Twilight teleport Rainbow would dive in a random direction. Twilight would then come out of her teleport—which took about a second and a half from the moment she winked out to when she'd wink back in—to try and tag Rainbow were she had been, only to be on her own. Sometimes Twilight would even come out with her back to Rainbow, giving Rainbow the opportunity to score a quick tag of her own.

Even with all her tricks, Twilight proved to be no challenge after Rainbow had figured this trick out. Twilight had tried trying to anticipate what direction Rainbow would dive in, but the best she ever achieved was to wink back in directly in front of Rainbow, ending with the two of them crashing into each other and both scoring a single tag. If Twilight was lucky they would stay even with each other, but you can't win a match by simply matching the opponent; you need to score points and escape without giving the opponent one too, and that was something no one could manage against Rainbow.

Procyon, in a fit of rage, had tried to convince Luna that her game was flawed, that it put to much emphasis on speed and mobility. Rainbow had stepped up to defend Luna's teachings—even if she was having a hard time understanding them herself—and challenged Procyon to a submission fight. Luna had allowed the fight, but made it clear that if one of them was injured, the other would be forced to skip practice too.

Procyon had held nothing back, and while he was fast Rainbow knew him too well by now, and had no difficulty staying completely out of reach. After a few minutes of keeping her distance Rainbow made her move. She cantered up directly in front of Procyon, nearly close enough to touch her nose to the end of his beak. Procyon had then lunged forward in a high leap, obviously expecting Rainbow to try and bolt away as she had for the last few minutes, but instead Rainbow simply ducked under his charge.

As she passed underneath him she felt the fur on her back brush against his chest. They were so close she could have turned her head sideways and pulled one of his feathers out with her teeth if she wanted to. Ducking out under one of his sides, she planted her fore-hooves into the grass, collected up her forward momentum into her midriff, then sprung back and lashed out with her hind-legs. Despite holding some strength in reserve she still managed to break four of his ribs, staggering him, and dropped him to his knees.

Rainbow was worried that Luna would make good on her threat and she would have to sit out as Procyon recovered, but to her surprise Procyon was able to stay active and participate in their drills despite his injury. He even seemed to not hate Rainbow anymore.

Rarity always says the quickest way to win over a stallion is to flutter your eyelashes and look vulnerable, but as it turns out all a mare has to do is break a few of his ribs, and he's yours. Rainbow found the thought immensely amusing, but Procyon was not a stallion, and he did not like her; he respected her, which was enough.

Now, a full week after their training had begun Rainbow Dash was getting desperate for some fun. She had challenged all three of her friends—since Procyon had stopped treating her and Twilight so poorly Rainbow had decided to give him a pass—to a three against one match. Luna hadn't given them exact rules for the scoring system they would use, so they adapted it as necessary.

Rainbow had already tried facing three to one odds, and they found giving each team the same number of lives actually favored the side with fewer combatants, as they had more opportunities to score. The last time Rainbow had faced all of her friends at once, each of them had three lives while she had five, but even starting with a five to nine disadvantage, Rainbow still won having two lives left. She had lost all three having even exchanges with Twilight, then mopped up Rapidfire and Procyon without losing one.

This time all four of them had five lives, putting Rainbow down fifteen to five from the very start. As they began Rainbow started to circle around to her right as Procyon and Rapidfire scattered away from each other. Twilight simply sat and watched Rainbow.

Twilight was going to be the real challenge; it was always difficult to get anything more than an even trade from her, and starting with such a heavy disadvantage Rainbow couldn't afford it. She had to take Twilight out early, or her teleport spam would become exhausting, but Rainbow couldn't catch Twilight either, as she'd always just teleport away if she got close.

Rainbow shifted her focus to Procyon and Rapidfire; the two were trying to close in from two directions at once. Rainbow began running around them again, keeping both in front of her. If they spread too far to try and get behind her, then they would be to slow to come to each others aid if Rainbow pressed one of them, but if they stayed too close together Rainbow could easily maneuver against both of them at the same time, as if they were one enemy, making their numbers strategically irrelevant.

Rapidfire began to extend far to the side, breaking into a gallop to try and come around behind Rainbow. Rainbow took the opportunity to press in close to Procyon, circling around him to keep Rapidfire in her line-of-sight and put Procyon between them. This put Twilight behind her, but even at full gallop Twilight couldn't catch Rainbow if she stayed fast enough, and if Twilight teleported Rainbow would hear it.

As Rainbow arced in close to Procyon, she heard Twilight teleport from where she was sitting behind her. Twilight never teleported in front or Rainbow—she was afraid of being run over—so she would come out to one of her sides, and knowing Twilight it would likely be the side away from Procyon, to try and corner her. Rainbow landed on her forelegs, pivoting her hind-end around behind her and quickly skidding to a complete stop, facing the opisite direction she had been running. Rainbow loved to keep the fight fast and mobile, to never stop running, and never sit still, and Twilight knew this.

Twilight was very smart, and she had begun to anticipate Rainbow's actions. Twilight winked in, prepared to intercept Rainbow as she dodged to the side, she instead came in immediately beside Rainbow, facing away from her in the direction her momentum should have carried her. Gotcha. Rainbow gave Twilight a quick jab in the side, then side-stepped away from her, and directly towards Procyon.

To Procyon's credit he took advantage of the situation immediately, rushing Rainbow as she was looking away, just as Rainbow anticipated he would. This is why Rainbow had turned herself all the way around; she could have easily skidded to a stop and turned to face Twilight as she came out, but then she would have turned her back to Procyon. By turning herself sideways neither were behind her.

As Procyon lunged at her, he knew she would attempt to dodge, and giving her facing the obvious response would be to dash forward to get out from between him and Twilight, so he would be angling in front of her to cut off her escape. Why would I want to escape, Rainbow thought to herself as she tensed to perform one of her favorite ground based maneuvers. How am I going to beat you if I run away? You should know me better by now.

Instead of dashing forwards, Rainbow Dash reared up on her hind-legs, stretching her torso nearly vertical, and flapped her wings as if she were attempting a vertical takeoff. The result was a very rapid backwards jump; something the strongest of earth ponies would struggle to match. Procyon sailed passed in front of her, unable to match the rapid maneuver. Rainbow landed on her hind-legs, tensed, and sprung forwards again, pounding both fore-hooves into his flank—being careful to stay away from his still healing ribs—and pushed off to the side away from him and Twilight, and straight at Rapidfire.

Rapidfire was charging straight at her, rushing to get involved in the short skirmish. Rainbow only had enough time for two quick strides before the encounter. Rapidfire was attempting a suicide rush; by forcing an even exchange she would be draining Rainbow of her few lives. She was prepared to sacrifice her own lives if she had to, as she usually was.

Rainbow faked a hard left dodge, even turning to the side to make the dodge look as real as possible. Rapidfire fell for it, diving in the same direction to force the head-on encounter. Instead of diving left Rainbow simply skidded sideways, coming to a stop for the second time in the passed few moments. I know exactly what you're thinking, Rapidfire; but Rainbow Dash never stops! Gotcha.

As Rapidfire's momentum carried her passed, Rainbow reached forward and jabbed Rapidfire in the flank hard enough to turn her sideways in the air, so when she landed she stumbled and nearly fell. Now that all three were on the same side Rainbow could safely turn her back to gallop away.

That's exactly what Rainbow did, and as she pushed into a brief full speed sprint she was happy with the knowledge that no one could catch her; she didn't even need to keep an eye on them as she retreated. Twilight could always teleport at her, but the sound would give her away, as it always did.

***

The game continued in this vein for half an hour. Rainbow Dash fell back on her usual tactics, keeping the fight fast and mobile. If she slowed down too much the other three could more easily coordinate their actions, and start to put plans into motion to herd Rainbow in and trap her. By staying unpredictable, and never focusing on one target for long before switching to another, or performing a quick retreat, Rainbow could keep them disorganized and if she waited long enough one of them would slip up, or they would spread too far apart, and Rainbow could press in for a point.

Twilight was, by far, the biggest threat; even though the sound would warn her, she could attack Rainbow at any moment, regardless of how much distance Rainbow could put between them. She could be sitting, patiently waiting hundreds of feet away, and yet still be just a second away from attacking, and there was nothing Rainbow could do but counter attack after Twilight acted. It reminded Rainbow of just how important magic was going to be when they started getting into real battles.

Thankfully Twilight hadn't even attempted to use telekinesis against Rainbow, and after her show against Luna on the second night the Lunar Princess had not attempted it either. Rainbow was thankful for what reprieve she had been granted, but she knew they would have to revisit telekinesis again, and likely sometime soon.

Rainbow forced her focus back into the present; Rapidfire was circling around to her left and was becoming a threat, but it looked like Procyon was playing to cautiously and keeping his distance. Perfect.

Rainbow suddenly turned and dashed straight at Rapidfire, who froze in place under the unexpected attack. The vast majority of Rainbow's points were always scored on counterattacks, after dodging an attack. Rapidfire clearly wasn't expecting to have to play defense, and was unprepared for the assault.

As Rainbow closed, Rapidfire attempted to circle around to Rainbow's left, putting Rainbow between her and Procyon. This would have worked beautifully, if Procyon hadn't been too far away to seize the opening, and if Rapidfire hadn't hesitated long enough for Rainbow to easily tag her flank as she passed. Rainbow continued her gallop passed Rapidfire, before circling around to put Rapidfire between herself and Procyon, who was rapidly moving up beside Rapidfire.

Rapidfire was now down to just one life, Procyon had two and Twilight had just one. Rainbow only had two; all three were lost to Twilight, as she teleported in faster than Rainbow could react and was forced to give a fair trade. All they had to do to force a draw, was take one last life from Rainbow, then Twilight could teleport in and force the draw. Worse, if they could take a life from Rainbow before they both lost, Twilight could win it for them.

Rainbow pressed in again, building into a hard gallop, straight at Procyon. Rapidfire separated slightly, to flank on Rainbow's right as she closed in. Rainbow continued to press in straight, and just before plowing into Procyon she reared up and performed her horizontal-vertical take off—I need to think up a better name for this move; I use it so often now—not just bringing herself to a stop, but also pushing herself backward to reopen the gap between herself and Procyon.

Procyon did exactly what she expected; he lunged forward to follow her backward retreat. Rapidfire also did exactly as she expected; she lunged in from Rainbow's right, taking the opportunity for a flank attack. When an opponent willingly gives you their flank, you should be more hesitant to attack it.

Rainbow landed from her backward leap, and pushed off with all four hooves to her left, directly away from Rapidfire's lunge. Rapidfire was faster than Procyon, and landed where Rainbow had leaped from before hesitating to follow. Procyon, unable to halt his forward motion plowed into Rapidfire's flank, driving them both to the ground.

Rainbow, using her wings to twist herself around in the air to land facing them, immediately sprung forward to tag out Rapidfire and take another life from Procyon. They were almost done now.

As Rainbow again extended away she heard Twilight blink out. Rainbow picked a random direction: one that she hoped Twilight wouldn't expect; straight ahead.

Twilight blinked in on her right, expecting Rainbow to dodge in that direction. Instead Rainbows forward gallop carried her clear well before Twilight could react. Glancing over her shoulder, Rainbow caught an angry glare from Twilight. I'm sorry, what were you expecting? If I would have dodged into you, you'd be out and I'd be on my last life against Procyon on his last life. You should know by now he doesn't stand a chance. I've won.

Rainbow didn't want a fair trade though; she wanted to be able to best Twilight without wasting lives, and while she had gotten a lucky move off against her at the beginning, that was frustratingly rare. Rainbow considered, for what must have been at least the tenth time today, trying to use magic against her friend. ...I can't; I don't even know how to draw the power out, let alone what to do with it.

Rainbow had been trying all week, but had been unable to draw out the power that had surprised even Luna. She could only feel it when flying fast, and she now spent most of her nights too tired to fly at all, let alone fast enough to get her emotions going. Twilight had read nearly every book in the library—again—searching for any information at all on how to train Rainbow, but she had found nothing.

Rainbow had tried talking to Luna about it after practice several times, but Luna remembered little from her childhood, or even the times when the Empire was young. It must be strange, to have several thousand years worth of memories all competing, trying to be remembered over all the others.

Again forcing her mind back into the present Rainbow ran back at Procyon. As she closed in she turned to the side, and began running a tight circle around the griffon, just out of his easy reach. Procyon tried to turn in place, to keep Rainbow in front of him, but Rainbow was shockingly fast even after everything she had done today. As she began to come around to his side, she dug her hooves in and dove in at him.

Procyon stepped back, and raised his claws to ward off her attack. Rather than dodge to a side as she usually did, Rainbow instead flipped over, and glided upside-down, aiming for his head. Procyon, having never been attacked in such a way before, reared up to stop her from gliding over him. Instead of even trying to clear his reach, Rainbow instead closed her wings and dropped to the ground. She landed somewhat heavily, but her forward momentum was immense and she skidded underneath Procyon, giving him a four hooved kick to the stomach as she passed under him. She skidded to a stop just a few feet passed him, but it didn't mater as he was already out.

Procyon dropped back onto his claws with a loud sigh. He must be getting pretty tried of losing, even with the odds stacked in his favor. Rainbow lay there for a moment, watching the griffon rub where she had kicked him. I shouldn't be so hard on him; he still has some broken ribs.

Suddenly Twilight began a teleport, winking out from where she was standing on the sidelines. Rainbow threw herself up, and backed up to Procyon, using him as makeshift cover. Twilight winked in to Rainbow's left, just out of easy reach. Rainbow, still with two lives decided to end this now, and lunged straight at Twilight, expecting a fair trade. Twilight, before even opening her eyes, winked out again.

Rainbow's mind exploded into thought. This had never happened before. She knew Twilight could teleport quickly; she had seen her do it before, but she never did while in a fight before.

Rainbow, while laying awake struggling to get to sleep, had often considered how best she could use teleportation when she eventually learned how. The biggest and most obvious advantage is rapidly closing the distance, or dodging an attack, but it could also be used as a distraction. Rainbow had often imagined herself doing exactly what Twilight had just done; using a short range teleportation to distract an opponent who expected it, only to use in again immediately. Rainbow's own plans were often very complex, involving multiple quick teleportations, to cover the teleports main weakness; it was easy to anticipate.

Rainbow doubted Twilight realized the full potential however, and was likely repositioning for an immediate counter attack, rather than starting a true teleport spam. The result was just as easy to anticipate, even if it had caught Rainbow Dash off guard.

Rainbow reared up, and flapped hard, pushing herself backwards over Procyon. Twilight winked in, standing directly in front of Procyon. If Rainbow had continued forward, then Twilight would have been directly on her left, ready to strike her. As it was, Rainbow came down almost directly behind Twilight, then lunged forward and wrapped her forelegs around her friends neck in a vicious, Pinkie Pie like hug.

"Gotcha!"

"Ugh! Rainbow, how do you do that!?" Twilight shouted, her words garbled as Rainbow squeezed the air out of her lungs.

"Even when you're trying to be unpredictable, you're actually rather predictable, Twi. That was a good try though." Rainbow Dash didn't mention that the encounter was mostly luck.

"You'll start to figure it out some day, Twi. You have plenty of potential." Rainbow released Twilight, moving around her close friend to press her muzzle into Procyon's face. "And you shouldn't feel bad; you're a great fighter, but I'm the best! It's not your fault you can't compete."

Procyon lowered his beak and glared back at Rainbow for a moment, before wrapping the talons of his left claw around her neck and lifting her forelegs off the ground. He was being surprisingly gentle considering how threatening the gesture should have been. "Remember, Rainbow Dash, all I need to do is get my claws around you, and it's over. Do you understand?"

Rainbow Dash warped her forelegs around his arm, using him to take the weight off her neck. "You have a wired way of flirting. How is your side feeling? Why don't you let me go and I'll show you a good time, huh? I can't promise you'll survive it though; I'm known to be a pretty tough lov—erk," Rainbow's taunting was cut off as Procyon squeezed more tightly around her throat, completely closing her airway.

Rainbow choked down the brief instinctual panic, and focused on glaring at Procyon. She hadn't meant a single word she had said: Procyon was reasonably handsome, by griffon standards, but Rainbow wasn't into the whole beaks and talons thing. That just sounds unnecessarily painful. I like my stallions soft, and warm, but thank you for offering, so if you would stop killing me that would be nice.

Rapidfire had flirted with Procyon a few times over the last few days, and while Rainbow Dash didn't know Rapidfire well enough to tell if it was intended as sarcasm or was genuine interest, it had angered Procyon to no end. That was all Rainbow was trying to do. Maybe I over did it slightly, she thought to herself, as her vision started to blur and she struggled to focus. Are you really going to make me kick you in the head? I swear to Celestia—

Procyon finally eased the pressure enough Rainbow could breath again, but unfortunately for him that also meant she could talk again. "Oh, boy, you might actually like it rougher than I do! There's this earth pony back in Ponyville who's basically made of rubber! You can do practically anything you want to her, and she'll just bounce right back: she'd be perfect for you.

"Oh, or maybe Applejack likes it rough; I don't really know. I've never asked her, but if she does she'd be better for you than I am. She's as tough as I am, but she can't fly, so she can't kick you half to death as easily as I can, although be careful with her on the ground: she kicks every bit as hard as I do. You never answered me; how is your side feeling?

"Oh, I don't know, what do you think Twilight?" She had to work pretty hard, but Rainbow was able to loosen Procyon's hold enough to twist sideways and look at Twilight. Twilight was wearing a wide eyed stare: she looked like she was witnessing a murder. Calm down Twilight, Rainbow thought to herself, I'll be fine. He's just a big angry puppy who's mad a little filly from Cloudsdale broke his ribs.

Rapidfire was wearing a grin that spanned her entire muzzle, and was working hard not to break into laughter. I should make a deal with her; that she gets to be Procyon's chew toy from now on. I'm sure she'd love it.

Rainbow shifted her gaze back to Procyon, and glared into his eyes. As she spoke, all of the false bravado from her earlier jeering evaporated, replaced with a cold fury. "I think we're done here."

Procyon hesitated for only a moment before releasing Rainbow. Whatever he was attempting to accomplish, whether he wanted to scare her or make her submit, it had obviously failed. Or was that not what he was trying to do? Was he just testing me? What is he looking for? And why couldn't he just ask!? Males...

"Well, I thought that was just lovely!" Rapidfire shouted, prancing up to Rainbow. "Maybe next time you can ask if he's... willing to share?"

"It doesn't mater, I'm not," Rainbow stated. "But it's fine, you can have him, Fire. Just ask him to keep his claws to himself from now on, and let him know if he tries something like that again he'll be getting more broken bones." Rainbow was usually quick to join in Rapidfire's mocking tone and goofy personality, but Procyon's actions had drawn out all of Rainbow's dread and reminded her just how far they had to go, and how little progress had truly been made.

Rapidfire opened her mouth to comment, but then snapped it shut again. Rainbow could clearly see the mental wheels turning in Rapidfire's mind. I guess all the comments she has are jokes. "It's ok, Fire, I have Twilight for my serious conversations."

"Ok, good, because I think you and Procyon have a bright future together! I mean did you see the way he was looking at you, Dash? It looked like he wanted to take a big bite right out of you!" Rapidfire was shouting and her voice easily carried across the field for everyone present to hear. For good or bad, the golden pegasi had no shame.

"I'm telling you, Fire, he's all yours," Rainbow said while moving back to Twilight. "Are you Ok Twi? You look like you saw a ghost."

Twilight was still wide eyed with her wings half spread, fluttering at her side. "I... why would he do that?"

"That's how griffons hug!" Rapidfire shouted, giving a violent nod. "Hmm... I wonder how they... you know?"

"Ask him some time," Rainbow cooed, "maybe he'll show you. Seriously, Twilight, are you ok? Don't worry about him, alright? If he tries something like that on you just blast him."

"I'm not worried about me! Rainbow, should I have done something to help?"

"Naw, I can handle myself," Rainbow said waving a hoof. "Although if you saw me turning blue I wouldn't mind you saving me."

"Rainbow, you're already blue." Twilight's tone carried a bit of gentle mocking, and her wings had stopped shaking.

"Well, darker blue... Twi, you know what I mean! Forget it, he won't try that again. Rapidfire, could you go talk to him, and make sure he..." Rainbow glanced around; Rapidfire had already left, cantering after Procyon. Well that takes care of that.

"So what now?" Twilight asked, moving up beside Rainbow. "We can spar again, but I feel the results will be predictable."

"Actually it's not. You're the only one here who's ever beat me, and the only one who can get points from me. Take pride, Twilight; second best is nothing to be ashamed of."

Twilight blushed, quite heavily. The red hue was bright enough to show clearly through her magenta fur. "I still don't think there is much to be gained."

"We have the time; we can work on my magic!"

"Ok. Have you been able to gain any conscious control yet? Until you do, there isn't a lot I can teach you. It's not something unicorns need to ever learn. Magic comes to use as easily as breathing. I don't know how to teach that."

"I know, but I've been thinking: the times I can feel it strongest are either when I'm flying hard, or when I'm scared. I've been trying to... I don't know how to say this; follow it? But I can't figure out how to drag it out. The only time I've ever been able to control it was when Luna was testing me."

"I don't think Luna would want to repeat that exercise anytime soon. Her hearing didn't completely come back until the next day."

"Yea, I know, but I think I can control myself, and I think I'll respond better to you, Twilight."

"Rainbow, I don't want you to see me like that, like..." Twilight trailed off, looking over to were Rapidfire and Procyon had begun another match against each-other. They were actually rather evenly matched. Rapidfire was clearly faster but the gap wasn't as massive as Rainbow's own advantage was, and Procyon was able to make up the gap with cunning and his advantage in reach.

"Twilight, I don't think you get what happened between me and Procyon. It's nothing, and besides I'd never be able to see you any other way that as you are. So common! I need your help." Rainbow started jabbing Twilight in the side. "I don't trust anyone else to do this for me, and I can't think of any other way."

"Your mind will adapt in time, Rainbow; you have to be patient."

"We have months at the most, Twi, and the more time I have to work this out the better. Let's go; I'll let you know if you've gone too far. Trust me." Rainbow began nudging Twilight with her snout.

"Ugh, fine!" Twilight flapped her wing to shoo Rainbow back. "But don't blame me if you blow this whole field away!"

"Actually, didn't you agree to take responsibility for me if I lose control?" Rainbow moved back, and sat down. If I'm going to be stuck here for awhile I may as well be comfortable. She also spread her wings, pushing them forward far enough to easily be in her field of view, so she could watch them. "Let's go."

"Ok, I'm going to leave your muzzle alone so you can talk, and I'll start off slowly." Twilight sat opisite of Rainbow, and took a moment to focus before her horn flared with a faint glow.

As the glow around Twilight's horn built to a small flickering flame, Rainbow felt a warm embrace flow around her. It was nothing like Luna's cold power had been; instead Twilight's telekinetic grip felt more like a gentle hug. Too gentle... It was a strange thing: to try and panic yourself, and it simply wasn't working.

To try and freak herself out more Rainbow began pushing against Twilight's grip, and found that if she put enough strength behind it she could still move pretty far. "Common, Twi, put more power into it."

Twilight looked at Rainbow for a moment, concern clouding her features, but she soon bowed her head and her horn flared bright. A wavering magenta glow began to spread across Rainbow's wings, and up her form. The glow traced around her face, but held her head in place. Rainbow could feel the heat from it pressed against her fur, but she couldn't feel the kinetic force itself unless she pushed against it.

Rainbow knew that at any moment she could ask Twilight to stop, and she would immediately. She was worried that this conscious knowledge might make it difficult to get herself scared, but almost immediately the fear of being trapped started to spread through her. Her legs started going cold, and as she tried to move them, to shake some heat back into them, Twilight's immovable force held them firmly in place.

Twilight had been kind enough to leave Rainbow's eyes alone too, so she was able to press them tightly shut, hopping the lack of sight would enhance the feeling. It did, massively. With her heart pounding in her ears, Rainbow snapped her eyes back open. Twilight still had her own eyes closed, with her head bowed forward, focusing to maintain the spell.

No, Rainbow, you need to do this. I'll be worth it in the end, and besides, you're perfectly safe. Rainbow forced her eyes closed again, and turned her thoughts inward. Her heart picked up it's wild pace again, as the rest of her body was taken over by a fierce chill. ...There it is. She didn't know the exact moment it happened, as it came so slowly, but as the cold fear closed in around her, her heart refused, instead slowly building into an intense heat.

As it had last time, the more panicked she became the more power flowed into her upper torso. Unlike last time she didn't try and bottle it up, but let it flow through her, slowly chasing the cold down her mid riff, then down her legs. It felt extremely strange; like insects not just crawling over her skin, but also underneath it, and even down her bones.

As the power built, Rainbow began trying to pull more out, from wherever it was hiding. Rainbow wasn't sure what to expect, but it felt truly terrible, like pulling a squirming parasite out of her heart. The revulsion at the thought caused her to pull away.

"No, Rainbow Dash, don't turn away; turn towards it and feel what it truly is."

Rainbow would have jumped at the unexpected sound of Luna's voice, whispered into her left ear, but Twilight's magic still held her firmly in place. She tried to open her eyes, but the gentle touch of magic held them closed. She could seen the midnight blue hue of Luna's magic through her eyelids, but the feeling was not the biting cold as Luna's magic had felt last week. It was not as warm as Twilight's touch, but it was far more bearable than it had been before.

"You need to look inside, and that is not something you seem to do naturally. Relax, and focus. Do not be afraid of what you will find."

It would be a lot easier to relax if I could see! Rainbow screamed internally. The brief flare of anger and fear caused another burst of power to blossom across her chest; the heat of it threatened to sear her coat. As she redirected the power into her wings, Rainbow tried to relax. She focused on how the power felt, and found it surprisingly easy to manipulate. She pushed it down her legs, to pool near her hooves before pulling it back into her torso, then shifted the majority of it into her wings. The heat felt good there, the heat spread through every feather.

Now, with most of the power out of her chest Rainbow turned her attention back to where the power was coming from. As she calmed her mind, the power was coming in just a slow trickle. She reached for it, trying to follow it back to it's source. There was nothing; as far as she could feel it was coming out of nowhere.

Again, she tugged at it, and again it felt like a worm was wriggling in her heart. She ignored the terrible sensation and continued pulling on the power, and while it took an immense amount of concentration she was able to collect up a large bubble of heat, that she quickly buried in her legs to make room for more. Where is the limit? I don't feel at all tired, and I'm strong as ever... Where is all of this coming from?

"Rainbow," Twilight whispered from her right side, "open your eyes."

Rainbow did as Twilight asked, and found Luna's magic touch was gone. As her eyes slid open her vision immediately shifted to her own wing, still spread out in front of her. Her wing was glowing in a dark sap green, very similar to the green streak in her mane. Unlike Twilight's magic aura, that usually flowed smoothly like water, Rainbow's was an untamed flame flailing wildly in the night air.

Rainbow stood, and craned her neck around to look down her flank and at her legs. The aura around her torso was dim, and flickered only slightly but the areas down her legs, where she had stashed the last surge of power, flared almost as brightly as her wings. She turned her thoughts inward, and pulled the power up from her legs into her torso, and watched as the aura followed the sensation.

"Twilight, I... Why did you let me go!"

"You didn't need the fear anymore," Twilight said, with a shrug. "That's incredible. Unicorns transition their power directly into their horns in preparation for casting. I never realized you could do the same thing with your entire body. How much control do you have?"

"I can move it around," Rainbow said as she pushed all of the power into her wings. Their aura burned brightly, to the extent it was difficult to look straight at, and the heat coming off of them was incredible, but bearable. "That's about it," Rainbow added, as she let it spread evenly through herself again. "I'll never spend a night too cold ever again!"

"How much focus does it take to hold it?"

"None; it seems happy enough just to sit where I leave it... Should it?"

"I have no idea!" Twilight shouted, a wide grin spread across her face. "This is something that no pony has seen in centuries, maybe even millennia! I think we should start off slowly, just in case. Can you dissipate the power without casting a spell if you need to?"

"I... lets see." Rainbow tried simply pushing the power out of her wingtip. It clung to her, like a little filly refusing to leave the nest, but with a quick flick of her wing Rainbow was able to send a small blob of shimmering green light flying across the field. It dissipated into the air before going to far, the heat being eaten away by the cold mountain air. "Yea."

"Ok, so now try to collect more of your power. If you can generate it quickly enough, without the emotional aides, then I think you're ready to start learning some basic spells."

Rainbow closed her eyes and reached inside again. It took a moment, but she was able to find the trickle of power, and began pulling on it. She had to strain her mind, and it still felt unnatural, painful even, but it came quickly enough.

"That's incredible!' Twilight repeated. "You're sure you don't have to focus to hold onto all that power? Well, then we can begin practicing immediately!"

As Twilight was shouting to herself, Luna moved up beside them. "Twilight, we must have a word before you go."

"Wait, where is everyone?" Rainbow asked, looking around. Luna and Twilight were the only others in eyesight.

"We've ended nearly an hour ago," Luna replied, coolly. "You were in quite the trance."

"How...? Ok, well, would you like me to go?"

"No, Rainbow, these words are for you to. Twilight Sparkle, I have no doubt that you will be excitedly pursuing this new talent that you and Rainbow Dash have discovered?"

"Of course, Luna, this is an incredible discovery! There are hundreds of unicorns that have had their horns broken or otherwise impaired that could—"

"No," Luna interrupted, "they could not. This technique carries with it extreme hazards. Rainbow Dash, and you will be able to mitigate these hazards with training, but a normal pony will only bring themselves pain, and possibly death by using this technique. Twilight, you may learn to use this technique yourself if you must, but do not share it with anypony, and do not use it outside of training if it can be avoided.

"You too Rainbow Dash. I don't want you walking around the castle setting things on fire. Only draw out what power you need in the immediate future. Powering up before a fight is a usable strategy, but do not hold onto any power for an extended period."

"Why?" Rainbow asked.

"Are there health effects?" Twilight added.

"Of sorts. It is difficult to say. It does not always effect each pony the same way, and to some the very knowledge of what could happen might be the cause. I will keep a close eye on you two, and let you know the moment a threat makes itself felt, but if you are careful that will not be necessary."

After she had finished, Luna continued to stare at Rainbow. It took a moment for her to realize why; she was still blanketed in writhing green flames. Rainbow stepped back from the other two ponies, pushed all of her power into her wings, then flared them up, forcing the power out. The rush was incredible; a fierce wind ripped at her fur as the massive release of heat pulled the green flame into the sky.

The massive swirling mass of green continued to rise, swirling in it's own small weather pattern, bathing the field in eerie green light. I've created my own weather before, pulling clouds around and twisting the wind to my will, but I've never done something like that before... this is insane.

"Happy?" Rainbow mumbled, her eyes still on the sky, watching the last of her swirling green flames eaten by the mountain air.

"Yes," Luna replied, in a gentle whisper. "Never be afraid of who you are, but be careful of what parts of you are given control that power." Before Rainbow or Twilight could say anything, Luna slipped into the air, and vanished into what was left of her night.

Author's Note:

Holy expletive; over 7000 words... oops... Oh well. I like to try and keep my chapters in the 3-5 thousand words range, and I thought the later bit in this chapter would be too few pages to have on it's own... I was wrong, but I like how it all flows.

As with all of my Author's Notes, nothing in here is necessary for the story and can safely be skipped. If it's a major plot point, it will be in the story itself; these are just area's for me to put in extra explanations and/or interesting information that while not story critical would still be worth reading for some (example; my early explanations on where some of the original names came from, such as the Areion Peak).

This note is going to be rather long, and will be nothing but an explanation of my motivation behind some of the darker parts of this chapter, and what it was intended to mean. If you made it through this chapter without thinking, 'what the hell is that?' or, 'why is this happening?' then you don't need to read this.

So Rainbow Dash was just mildly brutalized. Some of you may not consider having someone pick you up by the throat and half choking you out simply mild but in the long run it absolutely is. Remember, these characters are preparing for war, and it's not going to be the fuzzy chivalrous war they're used to. There is a very good reason this story has both gore and dark tags.

I would like to make one thing absolutely clear right now; at no point in this chapter was Rainbow Dash in danger of being raped. Procyon is just having mild anger issues, combined with the fact that a cute little blue pony is beating the living xxxx out of him on a regular basis. He just want's to be taken seriously, but Rainbow's insistence on openly mocking him isn't helping.

There will be no sexual violence in this story. There will be violence, there will be more broken bones, and while there will not be any long detailed descriptions of gore simply for the sake of gore some of the battles will end with the internal organs of several ponies thrown all around the place, but there will be no rape, because it's simply not needed. While sexual violence does happen, even in modern wars, it's not necessary here; I mean seriously, Twilight is already starting to crack a bit and Rainbow isn't exactly low stress at the moment either.

The confrontation between Rainbow and Procyon in the middle of this chapter does several very important things that may have been missed if you where too distracted by the brutality of it. It begins the escalation of violence relatively gently (in just a handful of chapters, it's going to look rather pedestrian by comparison. I'd rather start you off relatively gently than just drop you in the middle a blood bath). It establishes Procyon's anger issues, and shows how willing he is to hurt Rainbow (but also shows he is ultimately unable to truly hurt her, even as she openly taunts him).

We also get to see just how crazy Rainbow is, and how important it is to her that she at least gets to pretend she's in control. We've also seen how quickly Rainbow will throw her friends under the bus to try and assert herself (those references to Pinkie and Applejack were not exactly polite).

We've also once again reinforced how vulnerable Rainbow can be. We've already show how vulnerable Procyon is, when Rainbow was able to completely overwhelm him without ever being in proper danger herself; now we know how quickly it can turn against her if she makes a mistake. Just because Rainbow has so far been a master uber untouchable ninja doesn't mean she's invincible. In fact, just like any other creature it takes shockingly little to kill something, even her.

Feel free to point out any spelling or punctuation errors in the comments. Please include a copy and paste of where the error is so I can easily find it using the search function. If there is any grammatical device I consistently use that irritates you, feel free to bring it up. Having me explain to you why I do it may help you enjoy the story, and if it's something I don't have a good reason for doing then I should stop doing it and would love the opportunity for you to teach me. Happy readings.