Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Bound

Rainbow's sword sunk itself into the creature's chest, with barely any more resistance than what it would have encountered against regular flesh and bone. Resistant as they were to magic, their nature as nightmares still evidently made them vulnerable to, or at least not particularly tough against, weapons designed to fight against that kind of threats. But neither creatures like them or weapons like hers should have been existing in the waking world to such a degree. As reassuring as it was to know she could harm them, it was sickening to know how unnatural the nature of their existence truly was.

Swiftly, Rainbow Dash drew back, her sword along with her. She kept herself in the air, but not higher than the buildings nearby. It afforded her added mobility and made it harder for the creatures to reach her, but the last thing she wanted was becoming a target for soldiers around the city. Already she was fortunate she'd found a mutant wandering on its own, not supported by other ponies.

She stared at it as she pushed herself farther away and out of its range. Despite the wound in its chest, it still showed no signs of stopping. Even with her armour, the blunt force from a single one of its blows could be enough to swat her out of the sky, breaking one of her wings or worse knocking her out. That would easily be a death sentence. So, even though she could effectively end the creature, she still had to approach it carefully.

It was something her period of training under Luna helped with, and she was actually glad at that moment that she had not yet reached the part about bending the dream to her advantage. Being used to relying on something like that would have proven more than counterproductive in a real life situation, and she knew she wouldn't be able to switch between different mentalities as easily as Luna herself certainly could. Although, in those conditions, she wondered if maybe she would have been able to even warp reality as if it was a dream to some degree. She had already pushed her powers further than by reason they should have been able to go, after all.

She dove to the side to avoid a swing from the creature's arm, and in doing so she slashed it with her sword. Not a debilitating wound, but a wound nonetheless. Though the monster did not appear to bleed under her blows, a cut on a limb still certainly would do it more harm than good. She probably could not close out the fight with attacks of that kind alone, but they'd hopefully help.

The creature appeared to be studying her at that moment. Ready to spring towards her, but waiting. Eyeing her as she hovered out of its reach, and eyeing her sword as it floated around her. Rainbow had an idea, and quickly threw a glance at the sky. Then, under her directions, her sword moved aside slightly and tilted its blade just the right way.

The creature hissed as it was blinded by the light reflected in its eyes, amplified and infused by the sword's own magic. Its cry dissolved into a sputtering croak as the blade sunk into its neck, finally silencing the nightmare as Rainbow drew it to the side. The creature fell down, motionless, and the pegasus left its body behind as she headed elsewhere along the city's streets.

Comments

[Speckle]

Go, Rainbow!

[Saix]

I don't think I've commented on it before, but Rainbow's arc becoming Luna's assistant in the dreamscape is pretty cool. The aesthetics of the dreamscape stuff in general is cool and Rainbow Dash is maturing emotionally and becoming a better fighter without having to go all military or gritty with it.