Rainbow Unicorns: Boast Blasters

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

My Tip: Don't Lose!

Rainbow Burst stared at Spike, processing what she had just been told. Several thoughts and emotions coursed through her, running through her mind and heart, and fighting for dominance. Eventually, her thoughts and feelings came enough to a consensus that she was able to respond.

"You did what?!" Rainbow cried out. "Why would you do that?"

Spike jumped back at the reaction, eyes wide in shock.

"Why are you mad?" he asked. "I thought you would like the chance to take her down a peg."

Rainbow's body dropped as she let out a sigh.

"I would," she answered. "That mare was a pain and clearly needs somepony to knock some sense into her."

"So what's the problem?"

"The problem is that I have never been in a real magic duel before." Rainbow pushed herself back up, looking at Spike again. "The closest thing was when we went over it school." She let out a huff. "Got to do mock battles, but didn't even use actual spells. Just pieces of paper with spells on them that we were randomly given."

She rubbed at her forehead.

"Don't even really remember the rules."

A pang of guilt shot through Spike. He had been so caught up in thinking about how irritating Lightning Blast was and how nice it would be for Rainbow to put her in her place, that he did not even think about whether or not she would be able to. Well, he knew she was able to. There was no question in his mind about that. It was more a question of could she do it on Lightning Blast's terms. Rainbow had the raw power for it. Now she just needed to know how.

"Well... we're in a library," he said. "Maybe they have a book on it?"

That managed to make Rainbow perk up.

"Yeah," she said with a smile. "Plus, we still have Princess Celestia to ask for advice. Spike, take a letter."

Smiling at the return of his friend's enthusiasm, Spike quickly pulled out a scroll and quill.

"Ready," he declared.

"Dear Princess Celestia," Rainbow Burst said aloud. "I'll skip over the details, but it turns out I've recently been pulled into a magic duel. Not something I've ever actually done before, and I don't really remember the rules. If you have any advice you could give me, I would appreciate it. Sincerely, your student, Rainbow Burst."

With that done, Spike rolled up the scroll, held it to his mouth, and let out a puff of magic fire. The scroll vanished in a flash of flame and smoke.

The letter sent, Spike followed Rainbow Burst into the main room of the library. There, they began to search through the books, trying to figure out where any books on magic dueling might be.

"We really need to take an inventory of everything and organize some sort of list or something," Rainbow mumbled to herself as she was making her way through the M's.

"Definitely," Spike said as he searched through the D's. "Maybe by subject matter. Something more elaborate than 'fiction' and 'non-fiction.'"

"Ugh," Rainbow groaned, rolling her eyes. "Can't believe I'm talking about organizing a library. Bad enough I live in one, but now I'm planning on being its librarian or something."

Spike looked away from the books, eyes narrowing as he smirked.

"Soon you'll be wearing your hair up in a bun, and have a pair of glasses hanging from a chain around your neck."

Rainbow growled, grabbing a book and throwing it at him.

"Smart-flank!"

The book went far enough to reach Spike, if barely. It was also pretty slow. He could have caught it if he wanted.

After searching and searching, they were able to find several books on the subject, including one titled "Magic Dueling for Dummies." All of them had a basic run down of the rules: there were two duelist, most often unicorns but similar had happened between other races; the two then take turns attacking; each time one attacks, the other either defends or counters; after, the two switch; this repeats until one surrenders, or is unable to continue either due to running out of power, not having any more spells available, or cannot counter their opponent's; no spells that could be fatal or cause bodily harm were permitted (although it had been known to happen).

It all seemed easy enough to Rainbow Burst. At least on paper.

A belch and gout of flame from Spike got Rainbow's attention from her book. Reaching out with her magic, she caught the scroll that appeared and pulled it close, quickly unfurling to read it.

My Dear Student,

It is quite exciting to hear that you are entering your first magic duel. Please keep me informed on how it goes. I am curious to hear how you do, be it good or ill.

As to your question: the best advice I can give you is diversity. Learn spells that could be used for multiple purposes, both in defensive and offensive capability. As you cannot be certain what your opponent is capable of, it is often best to plan for as many possibilities as you can.

Luna, meanwhile, suggest you use a Blitzkrieg maneuver. A massive show of power and skill performed immediately and quickly, meant to impress and intimidate an opponent. While this is true, it is not entirely effective. Particularly when the duel is before a crowd. In point of fact, this could backfire if the opponent does not back down and you find yourself drained due to using nearly all your energy in a single strike. Even somepony with reserves as extensive as your own can be drained. To that end, try to keep track of your energy use, and -- if possible -- force your opponent to use more energy than you.

I wish you the best of luck, my faithful student, and look forward to hearing both the story of how this happened, and how you did, at a later time.

Sincerely, your teacher,
Princess Celestia.

With a sigh, Rainbow Burst set the scroll aside. While the advice was helpful, it was not quite as much as she would have hoped. Maybe it was too much to think that Princess Celestia would share some sort of secret that would guarantee Rainbow would be able to win the duel quickly and instantly. Even if such a thing did exist, the princess would not simply tell Rainbow Burst what it was. Instead, she would give hints, or an example or demonstration, and allow Rainbow to try and figure out on her own. She always did seem learn better with a hooves on approach.

"Alright," Rainbow said, turning to Spike. "So we need to create a short list of powerful, low energy spells, that could be used for multiple purposes. Plus we might want to get in a little practice to see what I--"

The rest of what Rainbow was going to see was cut off as a booming noise filled the air, the entire tree shaking. Both Rainbow and Spike were knocked off balance, with the unicorn landing on her stomach, and the dragon on his backside.

"... The buck was that?"

Comments

[Comickook]

Once again, splendid job on the latest chapter. I love the point that, despite her raw power, Rainbow doesn't know about dueling yet. And, I have a feeling Twilight is going to be a HUGE help in organizing the library once this latest mess is over (as part of her pay-off on the wager in the first chapter). And, for some reason, I can see the following scene a bit later on:

Twilight: Wait, you're still going to the convention, even though you won the bet?

Rainbow: Well, yeah. I have no problem with comic books - great artwork, even better action and very easy to follow storylines. It's just that I had a problem with going in a costume.

Spike: Yeah. Rainbow is a fan, but only a casual one.

Rainbow: But don't think you're off the hook concerning the wager. This is just a VERY temporary reprieve.

Twilight: Fair enough.

(and, as they are getting back)

Rainbow: I can't believe Shining brought Luna to the convention.

Spike: To be fair, it DOES seem like a good way to ease her into modern pony civilization. I mean, showing her around in an area that has a pretty high tolerance for the unusual. Did you see the way Shining was around Luna, though?

Twilight: Look, he's a guard, she's a princess. He was just doing his job.

Rainbow: You keep telling yourself that, egghead. Anyway, we've got your outfit and duster all ready for you.

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Anyway, for your next "Friendship Is Shining" story, maybe you could do a variant on "the Mysterious Mare-Do-Well where, instead of the gang trying to give Rainbow a humility lesson, Sunset Shimmer uses the Mare-Do-Well identity and a series of cleverly rigged "near-disasters" to try to "out-hero" Shining and his friends while ALSO distracting them from noticing a series of thefts crucial to her master plan (which only YOU know about; besides, it seems to me that this version of Sunset would make an excellent "once a season antagonist" [kind of like a more competent female version of Sideshow Bob from the semi-early seasons of the Simpsons] until her master plan IS revealed).

Of course, if you DON'T like the idea, I profusely apologize for wasting your time.

At any rate, I'll definitely be looking forward to more of this, but will also be perfectly understanding if real life gets in the way of your writing plans.

[Hopeful_Ink_Hoof]

8032255 Hm... Princess Luna at a convention...

[ShadowLDrago]

"... The buck was that?"

Good question.