Author's Notes:

Ok, Ok I know. I'm a filthy liar. I promised more chapters quicker...but I has too many other things to do now that I'm on land for awhile. I'll try and get my next one out quicker, but no promises this time.

Hope You Enjoy

It was obvious explaining to Rainbows friends that she and Daybreak had been secretly dating for the better part of two months would take some time. Obvious in all sense, however after thirty minutes of sitting by himself in the sand, Daybreak quickly became tired of waiting around to hear the all clear from Dash. So he decided to take matters upon himself and go see what was what. Sadly he never made it more than two feet before an army of glares met his gaze and he froze in place. He looked around and saw that even Rainbow was shooting him death glares. He understood this signal as "sit the fuck back down or else" and he gladly complied. Half-immortal or not, he had no desire to piss off all of Twilights friends and Rainbow Dash at the same time. That was a fight he did not need. Especially seeing as now he would likely have to check everything he ate from now on, to make sure Twilight didn't try and poison him. No matter what Rainbow assured him of, he knew of Twilight's inexplicable ability to hold a grudge, first hand. He could see it in her eyes at the moment she'd found out....once again, he had hurt her. Even if he hadn't technically meant to, that wouldn't matter to her, it was just another tack on her assuredly large score board of reasons to hate him.

After some more time alone with his thoughts, about another forty five minutes of waiting around kicking at the ground and some several minutes of building a miniature version of Canterlot in the sand using magic (which he then crushed with absolutely no satisfaction at all), Rainbow finally started making her way back over to him. He got up, dusted the sand off his rear and made to meet her halfway, but before he could he saw her slowly shaking her head, with her hand held up to stop him. With the obvious signs in front of him he patiently waited for her to make her way over instead. The first thing she did when she got to him was pull him into a lust filled (and very passionate) kiss, igniting a deep blush across his features as he attempted to peer over her shoulder to see her friends reactions. Luckily he didn't have to try very hard, Rainbow released him before he could even begin to enjoy it. Then she turned around, stuck her tongue out to her friends and blew them a raspberry. With barely so much as a "Come on!" she grabbed his wrist and started dragging him down the beach, opposite the direction Twilight had stormed off. She directed them more towards the knee high, tree filled part of the cove, for which he had no idea why. She didn't even say a word to him until they were fully around the bend and completely out of sight of her friends. Then, before Daybreak even got a chance to ask, Rainbow just yelled in frustration and kicked the nearest log, sending it spiraling a good seventy five yards out into open sea! Daybreak swore he heard someone yell Gooooooooooooal!in the background, but decided it was probably just his imagination.

Daybreak yipped in fright, but more at her kicking power then her outburst.

"Damn girl! Ya outta be a football player...why aren't you captain of like, every sports team again?"

Before his stupid comment could make it out of his head to his lips, Rainbow decided to voice her frustrations to him. She did this while also keeping step at a very uncomfortably fast pace for Daybreak to follow calmly, and not fall over himself in the thick, sandy muck water.

"So they aren't exactly happy with me, are they?!"

Her voice came out so quick and sharp Daybreak actually jumped, again! Whips had nothing on her voice when she was irked.

"Umm...Dashie? That's a little vague. Who's not happy with you exactly? It can't be your friends can it? I mean Pinkie was clearly ok with us...I think, and Fluttershy already knew...you said they were fine before you went over...what happened?"

Perhaps out of annoyance, or because it was simply in her way, Rainbow took swing at the nearest moss filled tree branch with her fist. It exploded on contact with her skin, sending the moss flying back into Daybreaks face and splattering across his chest! He was so instantly terrified yet turned on by her at the same time he wasn't even sure what to do, except follow her and silently pray for his life.

"Urrrgh! Pinkie and Fluttershy were fine with it at first! But then freaking Applejack had to go and point out that this was, quote on quote 'exactly what Twilight warned us about in the first place ya'll'. And how we shouldn't all just hop on the Daybreak band wagon after what you said to Twilight...I guess you said something profane or mean?..."

He opened his mouth to answer, though none to happily to admit it, but she wafted him away before he could, swatting another branch from her path as she did so (luckily this one didn't explode).

"...Anyways it doesn't matter, whatever you said couldn't have been that bad. But then it just went worse from there. Rarity didn't so much say she distrusts you, but she did agree with Applejack, that Twilight warned us about something like this happening, though personally I'm still not quite sure what 'this' is...So after that, I tried explaining how I...ya know...fell for ya without being all mushy, but I probably did a bad job at that and might have made them think you just seduced me or something. I made it as clear as I could that you didn't want anything to do with mushy gushy feely stuff until I forced you into it, but they didn't believe me...come to think of it...that part I can understand. I guess me trying to convince them that it was all my idea to get romantic IS pretty hard to believe...ya know cause I'm like, too awesome to get like that and stuff...ahem...anyways...umm...what was I saying?"

Dodging a slime covered branch and nearly tripping over into the knee high waters, Daybreak sighed aloud. "How you basically made our situation that much worse by epically failing to explain why I'm not the complete asshole they now think I am?"

A large vine flew back and smacked him in the face, shattering to slimy pieces instantaneously and once again covering his front in filth. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to get his attention. He looked up ready to curse her out, but she was already facing him, less than an inch away. Had he not raised his gaze he would have walked right into her. She leaned forward and forced another rough kiss on him, while gently wiping off some of the moss and slime she'd slung onto him.

"Dude...let's be honest here. You are kind of an asshole...but you're my asshole."

He had to struggle not to chuckle.

"That was literally, the worst way, you could have worded that Dash...ever."

With a hard shove against his chest, his lips were separated form hers and his back connected with the nearest mossy tree. He was successfully drenched in wet moss once more, completely nullifying the effort Dash had just made to get any off him.

"Can't you be just a little bit more sensitive when I'm trying to open up to you?"

"Nope" His voice deadpanned, his features unchanging as she looked back and glared at him. For a moment they held each others gaze, as if each one was waiting for the other to look away. But then, as if cracks had formed in a dam, Rainbows lips began to quiver. A moment later she was struggling to contain her chuckles as she slugged him playfully in the shoulder.

"See that's what I'm talking about dude. You're a total asshole. I just happen to like that about you."

"Lucky me..." He rubbed his hand across the new sore spot on his arm. Rainbow rolled her eyes

"Oh don't be such a baby" she continued walking, through the mossy and watery brush towards a, suddenly visible, out grove ahead of them.

"What's this? Another hidden spot of Rainbows? Certainly annoying enough getting to it to discourage visitors."

This out grove was much smaller than the one Rainbow had left her friends at, leading Daybreak to believe this was likely somewhere she, or possibly anyone of them would come if they didn't want to be bothered. Although smaller in size, it was certainly more inviting to the eye than the other, at least in his abnormal opinion. Rather than a sandy shore, the ground was glowing in green and olive colored moss. It felt soft between Daybreaks free toes and was warm to the touch as his feet felt the sudden change from wet and submerged sand to semi-squishy moss. The water that they had come through to arrive formed a large pool in the center of the grove, where even the water was glowing a beautiful lime color, presumably due to the over abundance of moss or algae within it.

Rainbow led him towards one of the few larger rocks in the slippery grass, and suddenly bent over it. Not just like she sat down and leaned over it, no, she physically set her stomach down on the tip of the slippery boulder and started wiggling herself about on top, giving him a pleasant view of her barely hidden rear, but raising several questions within him.

After a few seconds, Daybreak gently patted her shoulder "Dashie? Umm...what are you doing...I don't think that rock gave you proper consent for you to just mount it like that."

Still bent over the rock, Rainbow answered him with nothing more than a faint giggle. He noticed her hands slowly creep back along her thighs, down to her swim suit bottoms. She gripped the fabric on either side of her cheeks, and in one fell swoop, dropped it down to her knees. Daybreak instantly felt his anatomy turn against him, as the sight of Rainbows perfect behind greeted him. He could have started drooling the sight was so delicious to him. Rainbow looked back and smiled at his lust filled gaze. She gave a cough "See something you like back there stud, or do I need to spread out the view for you." She wiggled her rump at him playfully.

Daybreak swallowed the lump forming in his throat, the bulge in his swim trunks was aching to be free. "W-wow Dashie...I gotta be honest...no matter how many times I see it...the sight of your perfectly toned blue ass is still enough to make me wanna drill your hips into the ground!"

Another of her chuckles, though this one more passion filled, reached his ears "Mmm yeah, that's just the kind of talk I wanna hear right now. Come here and help me with my top, then the rest of you can help me with my bottom" She greeted his eyes with another wiggle and widened her legs a bit more.

Daybreak smiled sinisterly and took a step towards her. The evil glint of an impending world of pleasure that Rainbow just couldn't help but love, twinkled in his eye as he came up behind her. She watched him run his fingers across her rump, causing her to shiver with desire. For a moment, his fingers paused atop her tush, almost like he was attempting to pet her ass. She turned around to crack a joke but stopped when she saw his eyes, they were facing away from her, and his ears were clearly perked, twitching like a cats would when it sensed danger. Rainbow wanted to regain his attention quick, but the mood seemed to drain out of her when she heard him roughly mutter "Shit!" under his breath. The next moment one of his hands pushed down on her butt uncomfortably while the other grabbed her bottoms and roughly pulled them back into place! He yanked them up so hard and fast he actually managed to give her wedgie!

Rainbow squealed in discomfort and shot up her rear into the air! She came down with a snarl, ready to pound his face into the dirt...but something in his gaze froze her stiff halfway through. His eyes had changed without her even noticing. No longer the beautiful emerald green she could lose herself in for hours. No, now his eyes had ignited fiery white, like his pupils had rolled to the back of his head then ignited in bleach colored light! Despite the odd appearance of his eyes, she felt less discomforted by the sight of them and more so by the serious look on his face. Discounting his eyes, his features had scrunched together, making him appear much older than he actually was. She could see the tension build and ripple along his muscles as his glowing eyes seemed to x-ray the area around them.

Feeling oddly exposed all of the sudden, Rainbow decided to heighten her own awareness as well, and began to circulate her magical energy about herself. Perhaps only to provide personal comfort, or to actually attempt and lend aid to whatever Daybreak was doing, Rainbow began to circulate her weather based energy around the moss as well. But Daybreak seemed to sense this before she even started, his warm but firm hand suddenly upon her shoulder. She turned to speak but once again found his gaze silencing her mid-breath, he merely shook his slowly. It wasn't much, but somehow she understood him perfectly.

"No magic...right, got it." She thought to herself hoping she could communicate that she understood him with more than just her simple nod in response.

Without magic, most weather casters would find themselves feeling very discontented right now. But not Rainbow Dash, she was used to fighting all sorts of enemies without ever summoning her weather powers to aid her. She'd trained for scenarios like this all the time, and even though she had no idea what was yet going on, Daybreak had already communicated enough to her through body language for her to tell it wasn't good.

Deciding that even without magic she would still provide some use in whatever battle was coming, Rainbow moved herself from Daybreaks side, to his back. She faced the direction opposite of him and placed her back against his, only slightly resting against him to alert him she was there. For a moment she felt him tense in surprise as her bare skin pressed against the fabric of his shirt, but he relaxed almost immediately after and gave a slight shake to confirm what she was doing. She felt his nod and assumed her basic fighting stance.

Her hands came up, loosely clenched into fists for comfort, she kept her elbows tucked in just barely off her sides, to protect her ribs. She remembered learning all to often growing up in "Flight Camp" that unprotected or exposed ribs and/or sides can lead to devastating blows to the body. Flight Camp had taught her much, and although she, much like ninety nine percent of every other student who graduated, was still unable to fly using her magic, she had learned plenty else from the experience which she intended to put it to use here if need be.

Flight was something she strove towards, a goal to reach another goal. A goal most weather casters never achieved in their life due to lacking the talent, magical endurance, and proper training. But if she was ever to achieve her real goal, she would have to learn how to fly someday.

"But to get there, first I have to get through this!...Whatever this is..."

She began to wonder why was so tensed up in the first place, why either of them were. A good few moments had passed and still nothing had happened. Nothing had attacked them. Perhaps Daybreak was just overreacting to something.

It was at this moment, she felt his head turn only slightly, leaning back towards her ear and crushing the sliver of doubt within her "Brace yourself...they're coming."

Before she could ask what, a shadow lurched forth from the brush directly ahead and made straight for her! It was large, dark and barreling at incredible speed straight for her! With barely any time to react, Rainbow took a firm step forward and lunged her full weight into a single strong punch, holding just enough back not to hyper extend her muscle. Her senses seemed to slow down time as she watched her fist meeting the shadowy figures (presumably) face. She waited to meet the satisfying feeling of connecting with her assailants nose or jaw...but it never came. Like she was black mist, her fist seemed to swipe right through the shadows face, body, and continue out its back. She was so surprised, she did not have time to counteract her own force and practically propelled herself forward onto her face!

She looked up, hearing Daybreak give a sharp gasp of pain as the creature had then continued on its path and somehow tackled him from behind, planting him firmly on his stomach in the moss. The creature was difficult to make out in the odd light of the glowing plants around them, combined with the random bits of sunlight breaking through the mangrove foliage above. However one part of its body suddenly became very discernable regardless of the lighting. Black, and very solid, razor sharp claws, glistening in the minor light around it. The creature raised its shadowy arm, looking significantly more solid then when she'd tried to punch it, and swiped down across Daybreaks back!

Rainbows blood ran cold as it's claws sliced cleanly through Daybreaks shirt and carved his skin like butter! His shriek of pain sparked something within her, the same fiery hate she'd felt when she saw Stormchaser standing over Daybreak swelled up again, but this time more ferocious than before! She suddenly found herself blinded by rage!...Except it wasn't red. In fact, it wasn't any color. Suddenly her world had gone black and white...seemingly colorless, she didn't know how or why, nor did she care. All she cared about in that moment was the complete destruction of the beast on top of her boyfriend, it's claws now dripping with his fresh blood!

Her eyes felt more focused than she could ever remember, as she homed in on the creatures figure. It's outline now seemed more visible than before, and in her current state of sight, some parts of it looked solid and white, while others appeared to phase in and out and were black, almost misty...so she aimed for the part that looked to most solid! No plan, no secret tactic, she straight out screeched in anger, and surged all her strength into grasping hold of the bloody claw in front of her!

When her fingers actually closed around it, she was half surprised, but that didn't falter her attack. She pulled upwards and kept her momentum moving forward, forcing the creature off Daybreak and dragging it through the moss behind her for several feet. Before the shadow had time to recover itself, Rainbow lurched up its arm and flung the beast skyward! All previous thoughts of caution forgotten, Rainbow felt her aura surge through her rage filled body! She built up a huge mass of energy filled magical clouds in the palms of her hands and zoomed in her eyes on the creature as it flew into the air. She didn't know how she could suddenly do that with her vision, but she didn't care. With her current view of a world without color, she could easily discern the shadowy figures presence among everything else in the sky. To say the least, it stood out in an odd way.

Once she was sure she had her aim perfect, she threw out both her palms and loosed a huge wave of lightning from within the clouds around her! Lighting in it's purest form was too quick to be dodged by any being she knew of, and so she knew before it happened her attack would connect. Before the lightning struck the creature though, she heard Daybreak yell something to her...but she realized her fatal mistake far too late to do anything about it! The lightning struck the shadow center mass and lit up her grey vision a momentary bright yellow! A small scale explosion arched across the horizon, which she assumed would have looked beautiful, if she could have seen anything other than black, white or grey at the time.

When her eyes cleared from the blinding glare of her attack, she expected to see the creature falling back down towards the ground, looking charred in some discernable way. But instead...it was still right where it had previously been when it was struck. Except now it no longer looked black and shadowy to her vision, it was bright yellow and stood out amongst all the grey in the sky. The creature loosed a howl that pained Rainbows ear to the point of her physically covering them to protect form the pain. Then, to Rainbows horror, the creature mimicked her hands previous movements while it hovered in the air. She watched her same energy clouds forming around the creatures body, saw it thrust out its clawed hands, and before she could react, loosed her same lightning down upon her.

Something seemed to click in Rainbow Dash as she looked up and met the shadows gaze. She could find no eyes to stare into, but yet somehow her eyes seemed suddenly bombarded with images. Images she did not recognize, or comprehend...things...creatures, thrashing about in a disgusting, grotesque way...and a place she did not know, which instead of filling her with a feeling of despair or revolt, left her feeling empty inside. This all happened in less than an instant of their eyes meeting...but the feeling they left her with was all too real for her to deny. Fear. Fear paralyzed her...it kept her from moving to avoid the oncoming attack, but it wouldn't have mattered if she tried, after all, lightning in its purest form was too fast to be dodged by any being she knew of...including her. The attack exploded as it struck ground, enveloping, and likely devastating the whole grove in all directions. To say that it likely obliterated Rainbow Dash, would be an understatement, and it likely would have...if Daybreak hadn't been ready for something like that.

The dust settled around the cove. The creature sensed its prey down below, still alive. What it could not sense, was how little damage it had actually done to them. Still hovering in the air, glowing with Rainbows absorbed lightning, the creature found itself surprised when the dust fully cleared from the air and showed Daybreak standing over a fearful looking Rainbow Dash, a black barrier of smoking energy around them. A snarl broke free from the shadowy creatures jowls, it was clearly displeased with the results of its attack (or lack there of).

Daybreak stood over Rainbow, his right arm outstretched and clearly supplying the energy for the dark barrier now encompassing most of Rainbows vision. His left arm dangled beside him, fizzling with yellow sparks, blood running down his elbow and dripping onto the mossy ground below. Despite the excessiveness of the blood flow from him, Rainbow could not see the wound that was causing it. Nevertheless, she was surprised that his arm seemed to the be only thing the creatures attack had damaged. Their was not a scratch on her or Daybreak (save his arm and back of course). Even the surrounding landscape had not been damaged. The cove still looked the as it had before the attack. This left Rainbow marveling at what kind of spell Daybreak could have cast. Of course, the aura made it partially obvious it was not his normal magic, but something dark. Still she couldn't help be curious.

"H-how...?" She didn't quite know how to ask it. How had he saved her? How had he know just which spell to cast? How had he reacted in time when she'd just witnessed him get his back sliced open for a second time?! The questions just kept forming.

Yet, it was like Daybreak was reading her mind. With a smile he gestured his head towards the creature, still hovering ominously in the sky above, well within visible range of anyone around and clearly not doing anything to hide itself from any random passerby who might spy it.

"From the moment I felt your aura fluctuate for your lightning spell. That's when I knew."

This did not help her in the least. "I don't..."

His eyes suddenly narrowed and he turned away form her once more, the barrier around them dropped at almost the exact same moment. "No time for that now Dash. For now, just know this creature can absorb magical attacks and send them back at us"

"Yeah, no shit Sherlock. I think I got that when it nearly just killed me a second ago thanks. Any other bits of wisdom for me?"

His answer came in dry and serious, he must have missed the sarcasm in her voice. "It can also phase through physical attacks, as I'm sure you also already experienced when it attacked me. You probably tried to hit it and phased through it. For now the simple way of putting it is this; magic is useless, and it can only be struck physically if it's preparing an attack of its own."

Rainbow nodded, forcing her still shaky legs up as she did. A half smile slid onto her face "Always explain things like that from now on, ok? I don't have time for you're preachy professor talk all the time ya know?"

She heard him exhale roughly "Hmph, whatever. Just pay attention Skittles. Saving your ass again would be such a bother to my good arm."

She opened her mouth to retort, half thinking about just flipping him off, but caught herself as she watched his features harden again. He didn't even have to say "prepare yourself" this time. She could feel it coming.

Looking up to the sky, her instincts were unfortunately correct. A loud screech that people all the way in Ponyville likely heard, signaled the floating monstrosities' descent towards them. It rocketed down just like a bolt of lightning, seeming to appear one moment, only to vanish and reappear much closer to them the next.

It was in front of Rainbow before she even realized it, or could even move to react. It barreled forward towards her, its black talons extending, reaching for Rainbows throat. Yet somehow Daybreak seemed to have anticipated this, bringing his injured arm around in time to meet the creatures oncoming swipe. His fist clashed with the creatures outstretched nails, punching it in its open palm and saving Rainbow from being five inches shorter. The creature, clearly surprised it had been stopped a second time, reared back before attacking again.

Once again, Daybreaks left arm seemed to drop, dangling uselessly at his side, still shooting off tiny yellow sparks every couple of seconds. An illusion perhaps? If so, it certainly had her convinced, he certainly didn't seem to be faking the pain it was causing him. The strain in his breath when he moved it, the noticeable exhales of force and grimaces on his face, the beads of sweat down his cheeks. Subtleties that were hard to fake, but were obvious signs of pain from an injury. Was Daybreak really that good of actor/liar. If so, Twilight would have definitely had a point about his potential for chaos as an enemy. She silently thanked Celestia he was on her side, even if the Princess had literally nothing to do with it.

Half lost in side thought, Rainbow once again completely missed the creatures next attack. Though this was only partially from her own shortcomings, even fully focused she seemed unable to even detect when the creature was going to move, let alone keep up with it enough to fight back. This time however, her slightly averted gaze practically saved her life. She happened to be looking slightly to the left when the creature suddenly vanished from sight, appearing before her instantaneously. Daybreak swore as he turned, too slow to react this time, but Rainbow had lady luck on her side. Already staring in the appropriate direction, Rainbow reacted instinctively. This time, her instincts involved one satisfying uppercut to the wolf shadows lower jaw. She was so satisfied with her luck and the fact that she actually felt the horrid creatures jaw supposedly crunch under the weight of her attack, that she couldn't help the heroic scream that loosed from her lungs as she sent the creature up a noticeable few feet into the air with her strike!

"Shoryuken!" She half screamed half squealed with glee, as she quickly twirled herself a foot high in the air and landed nimbly a half second later as the creature met the earth with a satisfying thud before rolling back several feet, stunned. She imagined that if the wolf shaped horror had eyes, they would've been rolling in its head after a strike like that.

Daybreak looked as equally surprised as the creature that Rainbow had struck it, let alone caused it real damage. He stared on with widened eyes as its body suddenly looked more solid, flickering for a moment like broken overhead lighting and looking more and more wolfish by the second. A pair of red eyes were suddenly visible just above the creatures jowls wear its head presumably was. Though, to Rainbows great disappointment, its eyes were not spinning like Derpy if she'd been spun around a few times.

Whatever its current form, Daybreak must have taken it as a positive outcome, because he immediately went on the offensive. Rushing the creature with his good arm pulled back and a ball of green fire pooling into his fist, he went straight for where its throat should be. Though slowed by Rainbows stun, the creature was by no means beaten, as Daybreak found out when its crushing claws came down on his head. He avoided certain death by bringing up his left arm just in time. The claw came down, and this time there was clearly no avoiding the damage that would be done to the surrounding area from the force. Moss flew into the air as the ground shook around Rainbows feet. A gasp of fear for Daybreaks safety left her lips as she could only imagine what that blow did to him.

Once again though, after the moss and branches ceased their falling, Rainbow saw Daybreak kneeling, apparently unharmed. A noticeable difference from before though, was his left arm, raised in a defensive posture, and the black barrier around him. The barrier was significantly smaller this time around though, probably since he was only protecting himself. His arm no longer seemed to be bleeding from random places, instead it looked charred, blackened, like someone had overcooked it. He kept it up nonetheless, but the strain it must have caused him was more apparent than ever.

He was biting his lower lip while his whole face was scrunched in obvious discomfort. His eyes were clenched, but still open enough for him to see out of, and his lower half wobbled at the knees. He was not looking good, to say the least. The wolf creature, sensing its attack had once again met with failure, threw what Rainbow could only describe as a temper tantrum. With no obvious provocation, it threw its arm up and began to rapidly beat them down onto Daybreaks shield whilst snarling and howling in clear enragement!

Daybreaks eyes clenched shut after the first strike, clearly feeling the full weight of the creature with each blow that followed. He was on his knees in seconds, barely keeping his arm above his head. The bubble of energy around him continued to glow with apparent strength, but Rainbow could see the signs written across his face. What was odd to her was how the creature had suddenly decided to completely ignore her in favor of beating Daybreak into the ground. Realizing this was her moment to shine, Rainbow forced her wobbly feet to obey her and leaned herself over.

She planted her feet back in the sand, bringing her body near parallel with the ground, like she was preparing for the hundred meter sprint at school. Digging her feet back in the moss covered sand for support, she forced the ground to relent to her weight until she had a solid footing for both feet. Once she was firmly footed, she did her best to calm herself, despite watching the horror before her growing ever closer to shattering Daybreaks defenses. Whatever the situation, if she let her panic control her any further, she might get them both killed. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath.

"Stay calm...just stay calm...you've got this."

With her eyesight still stuck to this black and white viewing mode, she slowly opened her eyes and focused down on the creature whom was still fizzling with bright yellow energy. She looked it over, hoping her weird vision might detect some kind of weakness about it. She looked it over for anything she might have missed, the smallest detail could mean wonders for her right now. Her gaze drifted from its barely solid lower body, up its hazy torso, to its more solid looking head and upper claws. She stopped when her eyes drifted over its arms. Each time its struck down on the barrier...its body, especially its arms looked more and more solid. It was looking more and more like a black wolf monster than the shadow that had first attacked her. Was that because of its constant attacks, or something more, she did not know. But she knew for sure it became more pronounced with each blow to Daybreaks barrier.

"Hmm...his barrier is clearly made of dark magic, I've seen that enough to recognize it anywhere. Maybe it's affecting the creature somehow...if that's it...I just might have something. Hopefully this thing doesn't speak English."

Still keeping her body leaned forward, ready to sprint, she put one had to her mouth and yelled "HEY DAYBREAK!"

Just as she expected, the creature didn't seem to notice or care about her, but Daybreak did. His eyes briefly flickered, and though he clearly was straining to do so, he turned his head in her direction. She could only hope he understood her plan from what little she would say, just in case the wolf could understand her.

"WHEN I TELL YOU, PULSE OUT YOUR BARRIER WITH EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT, LIKE YOU'RE TRYING TO PARRY THAT THING! OK?"

She could see him attempting to think over what she said in his mind, but his thoughts were ended instantly when the creature brought down its weight for another blow. Daybreak dropped down to both knees and Rainbow watched his arms begin to wobble, she doubted he could withstand much more punishment. Meekly raising his head, Daybreak half nodded to her, and half fell forward. She almost moved prematurely when he dropped down to his elbows, but at the sight of the barrier still holding, she held herself back.

She had no way of knowing if Daybreak had understood what she was planning, or even if what she was planning would work, but if it did...

"If this works, I'm a fucking genius." She let that thought comfort her as she steadied her feet and prepared to move.

"YOU READY DAYBREAK?!"

"JUST GO ALREADY DAMMIT! I CAN'T HOLD THIS ANYMORE!" His voice came out so deep she barely recognized it as him. In fact, for a moment she almost could have sworn it came form the wolf instead of him, as it had slightly motioned towards her when Daybreak had spoken...but that was ridiculous.

"OK........NOW!"

She thrust herself forward before even waiting to see if Daybreak would manage the feat she had requested. As usual though, he did not disappoint. His barrier pulsed outward at a massive interval, so much it actually surprised her since she thought he was running on empty. The creature wasn't thrown off him, but being already in the midst of its next attack it was sent stumbling backwards on its hind legs, very much off balance. She locked eyes with her target, and where precisely she wanted him to go, then brought her shoulder forward. As the wolf staggered back and phased to a nearly full solid form, Rainbow planted her shoulder straight into the creatures center section (hopefully its chest).

She put the full weight of her magical and physical strength behind the blow. Then as the creature doubled over, nearly folding itself in half over her back, she took one, then two extra steps, and flung it off her with the same forward momentum she'd already been building. The wolf flew from her back in an almost perfect straight line, and much to her glorious satisfaction, crashed right where she'd wanted. The creature, still holding a solid form, smashed the center of its back right into the mossy trunk of a very thick tree. The loud and clearly pained yip squelched from the creatures maw as a disgusting crunch echoed around the grove.

Instead of phasing through the tree like it might have before, the creature smashed, back first, into the six foot thick trunk of a tree, and practically folded itself completely in half...in the wrong direction. Rainbow could hear the gurgling sounds of the wolfs suffering from where she stood. If it had a spine, it had certainly shattered upon impact, and although it was a nasty thought for her to think about, it was exactly what she had wanted...which was an even more chilling thought to think about.

She pushed the uncomfortable notion away as she noticed her vision was finally returning to normal, the color returned to her eyes as she looked down upon Daybreaks half collapsed form. His barrier had long since dropped, probably the moment he felt the creature relent its assault, and he was now back at his knees, simply catching his breath. He didn't look relieved yet, but she expected that would come soon, right now, she could sigh loud enough for the both of them. She allowed herself to fall back onto her butt in the squishy ground beneath them and release her exhale of satisfaction. Until Daybreaks next words chilled the blood in her veins.

"D-don't...relax yet...there's still more coming..."

She could feel her pupils shrink in horror as he spoke. Instinct, or perhaps just the reality of what that implied, caused her to look up at that moment. With her vision now returned to normal, the black mist surrounding their grove was now visible to her eyes spectrum. It was thick like fog, but looked solid enough to touch. Every way she turned the mist surrounded them, they were trapped within it from all sides, with no escape. That thought, coupled with the many growls that started up mere seconds after, sent tingles down her spine. She looked to Daybreak, who was somehow already back on his feet, and glowing with energy. He looked slightly paler than usual, and his arm still looked like it had been cooked in an oven, but otherwise, he seemed fine. She couldn't even see the claw marks on his back anymore, in fact without the rips in his shirt she might not have even known he'd been slashed there.

"H-how?...How many Daybreak...How many are out there?" Her voice quivered with a fear that felt foreign to her. It was not something she was used to feeling, at least, not like this. Inevitability had never really crossed her mind before, but now, it seemed to be eating away at her. Daybreaks next words did not do anything to calm her anxieties either, even as she felt his hand touch her side, and energy suddenly flood back through her in massive tidal waves.

"Too many..." He sighed as he spoke. There was something like resignation in his tone, which was odd for him. He didn't seem like the type to go out with a whimper, but then he added "Looks like Famine made up her mind about killing or recruiting me pretty damn quick wouldn't you say?...I just wish I'd known she could send...these things. I could have actually prepared for this if I had the time... Dammit...I wish Twilight were here"

"Oh Celestia he must be desperate if he's wishing for Twilight..." The thought was half a joke, but a small reality of it did way on her regardless.

The growling around them seemed to draw closer, like a pack of Timberwolves closing in on their prey. The term felt more accurate than Rainbow cared to admit right then, even the black fog seemed to be shrinking in size, lessening the area they had to move before it would encompass them in it.

"What do you mean? Is there a way to fight these things? Anything is better than giving up!"

As she heard him chuckle, his aura pulsed out from his body, momentarily chilling her skin...but yet warming her from within.

"Giving up? Me? I don't have any intentions on doing that, nor should anyone who presumes to stand next to me. Right Rainbow Dash?" She felt a brief flutter in her chest, her fists clenched in excitement. Her motivation might have continued to grow if he'd left her at that, but instead he continued on.

"...No...I intend to fight every last one of them...I just want you to be aware Dash...we can't win. There is no chance of victory here...not against them."

The absolution in his voice is what really got to her. Whatever he was professing, he actually sounded like he'd already given up and accepted his fate. Perhaps it was just his better understanding of their enemy, but if this is what the knowledge brought, she'd rather remain blissfully ignorant. Her fists clenched tighter, so tight she felt her nails digging into her skin.

"We can win."

Such a small phrase, yet she conveyed so much to him with it. Mostly it was her lack of knowledge on what they were about to experience, but it was also her will. He felt her will to fight, even though neither of them had moved. Her words, her tone, he could feel the fire within her just from her one sentence. Half of him wanted to believe her, but he knew these creatures and their attack methods from his extensive readings in Canterlots' Restricted library...and one experience prior, as a child. The Pack , which was the tactic the creatures were currently implementing, had never been survived by anyone without the use of extremely powerful light magic. A force which he knew for a fact, neither he, nor Rainbow Dash, had the ability to wield at the moment.

"Rainbow could, but not to the strength needed to fend off this many at once...I'm not even sure Twilight could..."

Still Rainbows words did tell him one thing. She was not giving up, whether from blissful ignorance, stubbornness, or some other hidden quality he could not understand, she refused to quit.

"Your unrelenting need to soldier on, even in the face of the impossible...the sheer strength of your will...is that why I can't fathom being with anyone but you? Is that why I'm drawn to you Rainbow...maybe...because I want to be...like you? Is that possible? Do I admire you? Have I...maybe...actually fallen for you?...Hmmm...I'd love to live long enough to find out."

He felt movement to his side. Cutting his thoughts short, a shadowy form lunged out at him, bearing its claws and teeth like shiny trophies and aiming straight for his left hip! He moved to react, bringing his elbow to the ready and preparing to smash it down on top of the oncoming snout of the beast. Yet before he could manage it, he saw a blue foot appear in his vision, and smash down on the creatures nose, flattening it into the ground! Rainbow had beaten him...to defending his own body!

"How did she...?!...I must have given her more magic than I thought..."

No time to think! The creatures lunged in at them from all sides at once! The shadowy mist encompassed and shrouded itself around them as the beasts attacked! Rainbow disappeared from sight the moment the shadows found them. Daybreak was forced to react with his instincts. Closing his eyes and extending his perceptions, he reached out...and grabbed the first oncoming wolf by its claws, allowing them to dig painfully into his hand as he did. Clearly surprised at being touched, the creature failed to stop its own momentum, which Daybreak used to turn, swing it around, and toss into the nearest oncoming beast.

Eyes useless in the darkness of the shadows, Daybreak kept them shut and relied on his other senses, amplified by magic and his own ability to feel the darkness these creatures released. Their dark aura was similar to his chaos aura, therefore allowing him to easily sense them without too much trouble. The trouble was Rainbow Dash. He had no idea how she might fare in this situation, and he could no longer feel her energy around him. All he wanted to do was find her and run...but he knew that wasn't an option.....yet.

He knew if he stopped to think about Rainbow Dash or how she would fair, he wouldn't stand a chance of surviving. These creatures were perfect hunters, they would sense his hesitation and react to it. He had to keep focused at all times, then if and only if, he managed to fight them off, he could worry about Rainbow.

"As much as it sickens me...I have to forget about you for now Dashie...Don't you dare die!"

He felt it coming, too quick for him to react he felt the dark energy appear behind him. A powerful force struck the back of his head, sending him sprawling forth into the ground. As his elbows slid in the moss he felt another one appear overhead. Once again it was in a would-be blind spot of his and too quick for him to turn and defend against. Knowing this, he instead used the slippery moss, and his forward momentum, to his advantage. Magically charging his palms, he dug his hands into the ground, and gently pulled himself forward along the muck. As the beasts claws came smashing down, Daybreaks magically charged momentum propelled him out from under the creatures belly and several feet ahead of the danger.

With a split second more to react, he used his momentary evasion to counterattack, in the only way he could think. With the overabundance of moss at his disposal! Sliding to a stop some several feet ahead of the shadow wolfs face, Daybreak dug his nails into the vegetation beneath him and pulsed out a wave of his aura. The earth beneath him shook briefly, before a tidal wave of slippery moss shot forth from the ground, enveloping the shadow wolf to his immediate rear. The small wave washed over the whole perimeter of the cove and everything inside of it. He knew his attack would do no real damage, but his hope was more that he'd displaced them for a moment.

He took his moment of respite and got to his feet. He stepped back, and instantly felt cool flesh brush his torn shirt. With only a slight jump of surprise, he muttered with relief.

"Dash...that you?"

He heard her raspy breathing so clos to his neck, it gave him the shivers. He knew it was her before she even spoke. "Yeah...I'm here."

"Y-You good?" The slight shake in his question was hard to ignore, but she forced herself to be as honest as possible, without worrying him.

"I'm good...I think one of them clipped me...but other than that, I'm fine."

Growling encircled them, deafening them to their thoughts once more.

"Well...Try and stay that way for me."

"Dash...!"

"I know!"

They both moved as the energy appeared around them again. Springing themselves from the ground, both Daybreak and Rainbow leapt upwards from the black mist and into the surrounding mangroves. Each of them perched on a sturdy branch as the very air around them seemed to thicken at their presence. The black mist seemed to dive in on itself as they exited, like it had been attempting to attack them. From within the mist, the creatures leapt out at them, too many to count. Daybreak, now out of the darkness and having full use of his eyes, counted how many were an immediate threat to his vitals as they closed in. He dropped from his perch as the first came for him. Reaching up, he grasped the bottom of the branch with his hands as he fell, then propelled himself into a swing with a burst of aura from his back. He leapt from one vine to the next as the creatures came at him, dodging and anticipating their attacks noticeably easier than before. He looked back for a split second to see Rainbow do a similar maneuver and begin moving in the opposite direction, taking a small section of the pack with her in pursuit. The rest of the horde, came after him. This immediately justified his theory that he was the primary target, and made him feel slightly better about Rainbows chances. Odds were if she proved too difficult, they'd break off and come back after him. So for now he knew he could do nothing but hope she'd be safe and focus on himself, as much as he hated it.

Perhaps the mangrove vines had the beasts disoriented, or perhaps he was just quickly adapting to their unnatural speed. Either way, dodging them was becoming easier by the minute. Sensing a wolf closing in behind him, he reached up, catching the next passing branch as he jumped, and swung back around to face it dead on. Extending his foot out, he saw the creature attempt to stop its body mid leap, but it was too late. Both he and the beast connected in the air, his foot crushing his weight into the wolfs gut.

They both fell, but as where he merely extended a hand and righted himself neatly on another branch, the wolf plummeted into the branches and water below. Not a terribly long fall, as mangroves didn't grow tall enough for any fall from them to be easily fatal. But the several snapping vines indicating a painful fall were more than enough to please him as he moved on.

As he moved about, hopping from branch to branch and searching for any way to gain an advantage, he felt two more shadows appear behind him. He was already mid-jump when he felt them and knew there was no avoiding damage this time. So he reacted the only way he knew how. He spun himself around mid flight to meet the oncoming attackers, and, extending both his hands outward in front of him, loosed a cannons worth of fiery blaze into the faces of his attackers while they remained just outside of arms length.

The fire caught both wolves off guard and met them full in the face. Of course, he knew no damage would come to them from that as they began to absorb and radiate the fire almost instantly, but at the very least he hoped to blind them. He knew it had worked, because the creatures next several swipes at him missed by miles. Knowing the inevitable sudden stop was coming, he braised his front and back as both the blinded wolves, and the oncoming branch he'd decided to ignore, collided with him. The wolves flaming bodies sprawled into him, only making his collision with the branch that much more painful. The three smashed through the mangroves and tumbled down through the rest of the vines. The wolves seemed to be the luckier of them, as they kept crashing through things all the way down to the water, where they either exploded into steam when touching the water...or were instantly extinguished...he couldn't tell. Daybreak however, was not so lucky.

As he fell, he smashed through several layers of vine, only to have the rest of the wind knocked out him as his fall came to very sudden stop. A slightly stronger root than most appeared from nowhere, extending out from the nearest mangrove and catching him by the stomach as he fell. He heard a sharp snap close to his ear and felt a quick surge of searing pain in his shoulder, before his body went numb. The remaining wolves that he hadn't sprayed with flames flew past him, screeching all the way down to the water, then instantly vanished from sight in a black cloud of vapory smoke upon contact, just like the others. Daybreak hoped that meant that at least those ones were gone for now, but knowing his luck, he dared not count on it. Regardless of either, he allowed himself to just hang there, temporarily exhausted from so much quick paced fighting...and the vine in his gut.

Hehe...guess they weren't water proof...hehe...ow"

Despite his over whelming desire to simply let his eyes shut as he hung suspended in the air, it seemed the days events were not quite done with him yet. He felt it long before he looked up, the overwhelming weight of several dark auras appearing around him. He looked only to confirm his senses were working properly. He wished he hadn't. His eyes grew to the size of fine china dinner plates as he raised his throbbing head. Encircling him in every direction he looked, an entire platoons worth of the shadowy wolf beasts perched along the mangrove vines. He could barely see the little patches of light in between the wolves, since they were all so huddled close together it was nearly impossible to tell them apart. This only served to emphasize the sheer number now surrounding him.

Drawing in a few quick breaths, he attempted to right himself upon the vine he hung from. His limbs didn't seem to wanna respond to his demands, but he eventually forced up his right arm at least. It didn't matter though, the moment his hand touched the vine, and he attempted to start pushing himself up...every wolf around him sprung forth. The dark mist protruding from their skin momentarily blocked any light from reaching his eyes, and all Daybreak could see was the outline of hundreds of black wolf bodies in the air, coming at him from all sides. His body shook with fear as the beasts descended down upon him. With barely any strength to move, he fought to push himself up in time, to give him just enough strength to force his body from the vine. A painful fall to the water below was better than the alternative...but it was no use. His arms were too pained and his body to shaken from his fall for him to move. Even as he heard their howls of victory descend around him, he attempted to force himself over the vine and fall.

He felt the root beneath his gut shake violently, as though the wolves had landed upon it, but he never felt anything touch him. Instead, a blindingly hot, white light punched its way through his strained eyes and filled up his vision! Suddenly his face and body was full of heat, it was like he was standing next to an erupting volcano, or an angry dragons fire! The light was blinding, yet not actually painful, even with it overwhelming his vision he was still able to see the small army of wolves evaporate and/or explode into puffs of black smoke as the light enveloped their bodies. They looked like they were burning from the inside out, their screams of pain unlike anything he'd ever heard before! He wished he could clamp his ears shut, but his arms dangled stubbornly in front of him, even as he willed them to move. The numbness from his fall still overwhelmed him, and so he was forced to watch in awe as the painful light destroyed all his attackers at once, in one giant flash!

Once it ended, he felt painful tears welling up in his eyes. His eyes felt dry, much like the time he'd traversed the Saddle Arabian deserts for days, but this was much quicker and hit him all at once. He blinked his eyes, but felt nothing. He blinked again, and blinked and blinked until he forced them to fully water and run down his cheeks. It was blissful to feel for some reason, and so oddly distracting that he almost didn't notice his branch shake as something plopped down onto it. When he finally did open his eyes again, he felt the new presence before he saw it. Turning his head ever slightly to the right, he found a pair of bare feet standing next to his back on the vine.

He looked up, and found he was staring into the smiling face of someone he did not recognize. It was a girl, and by the looks of her chest from his current view, she had to be at least his age. The girl in question wore a tight fitting, starch white, two piece bikini. It, just like Twilights friends, seemed to reveal way too much skin for his comfort, even more so since he did not know this strange girl. As he hung uselessly next to her, he took a quick note of her body. Her skin was a slightly darker shade of orange than Sunset Shimmers, making her a closer match to his pale color rather than Sunset Shimmers, but it still kept that bright shine her skin had, rather than the dark feel his gave off. The girls white bikini top and bottom, other than exposing much of her toned hips and above average (but thankfully not ridiculously large) breasts, complemented her skin in an odd manner that he could not quite place. The colors looked odd paired together, but not in any negative way...just odd.

Working his way up, he found his eyes nearly jump to her hair, which was blood red and more obvious than the sun above their heads. Something about her hair seemed to glue his eyes to it, it was a deep red, too perfectly matching the color of running blood in a way that no other description but that could capture, except for one, single pink streak on his right (her left) side that fell some in her face, but mostly traveled down her back with the rest. Her hair extended down past her shoulders, and seemingly stopped somewhere down her back, but he could not tell where from his current position. She had a fairly attractive face, and piercing blue eyes. Other than her hair, he would have said her eyes were the next feature that grabbed at him. If her hair was the color of blood red and overly obvious, then her eyes were like a frozen tundra of icy blue. Something you would find yourself lost in for days, weeks on end without any hope of rescue. If they'd been slits, this would have made sense instantly...but they were normal. He felt slightly hypnotized just staring into them, it made him severally uncomfortable thinking it to himself, but he couldn't deny it.

"She's...almost as pretty as Dash..."

"Hmmhmm...Mes yeux sont là en haut"

Her voice, soft yet somehow feeling of a hidden firmness smacked the thought from his head. He shook away his daze and refocused his eyes "Huh...What?..."

"That is vat I vas vondering. Darling if you stare, like zat any longer, I might have to reconsider your rescue."

He couldn't quite place the accent he felt tickle his ear when she spoke, but it reminded him heavily of a more romantically famous part of Equestria...A part which he'd visited only once and swore he'd never go back to. Too many kissy, snooty people. He averted his gaze instantly to avoid giving her the wrong impression, and forced his usual attitude back to the surface.

"Hmph, as if I was staring, please...Who are you anyways? Did you cast that light that destroyed the wolves?

She nodded "Vhy do you ask, impressed, yes?"

"Actually I am...But I'd never admit that aloud. Not directly anyways."

"That was a powerful light spell. That's alot of pure magic to release all at once. Energy like that isn't to...common, so let's say I'm curious".

The girl put a hand to her mouth, only slightly covering up a girly giggle. "Mmhm oui, obviously. Well, peu fréquent est commune . You will find that alot around Ponyville."

A small chuckle of his own actually escaped him, though it was partially pained due to the vine still wedged in-between his gut and ribs. "Ehehe yeah...I've noticed. These people seem full of surprises. Still, even uncommon is pushing the boundaries of modesty, magic that powerful requires a powerful vessel to release from. You just destroyed around fifty very powerful dark creatures...you should be exhausted at the very least. But you like pretty fine to me."

She loosed another giggle "My my, quite the sveet talker aren't you?"

He bit his lower lip in surprise "Err!...T-that's not what I meant!...I only meant that you look surprisingly healthy for using a spell of that magnitude!"

Her giggled now changed to a snicker "Oh ho! So, impressed then, yes?"

He gritted his teeth to keep from cursing at her, an odd amount of frustration suddenly bubbling up within him.

"Look...Just help me up ok! I've got to get going! Rainbow Dash could need my help!"

Possibly sensing his annoyance, or perhaps having had her fun she giggled again.

"Rainbow Dash...hmm...I do not know zis person, but I know ze name. Is she perhaps a friend of Princess Twilight?"

He blinked in surprise "Actually...yes...and I need to find her asap!"

The girl nodded, as if now in understanding "Oui oui, here..."

He looked up as she extended a hand out to him, just to his eye level. As if he could actually move his arm that high in his current predicament, of course she had no way to know that. However, her fingers being this close did offer him the chance to notice her fingernails had been painted, matching the same blood red color as her hair. He didn't know why he noticed that, but he did.

"Umm...I can't quite get my hand that high right now. I had the wind knocked out of me pretty good, and my arms don't seem to be working right at the moment. Could you perhaps...assist me another way?"

The question made him feel overly helpless, but at present the fact remained that he still couldn't move, let alone raise his arms. So he had few other options unless he wanted to try levitating himself, or teleporting, then possibly missing and/or falling through more vines if he screwed up, only causing him to waist more time. Time which he needed to be using to find Rainbow! Luckily, the girl seemed to decide not to tease at him this time, and instead simply aided him. A pair of warm arms wrapped around his chest, and easily pulled him up, lifting him into the air like she was about to suplex him. Instead though, she simply set his wobbly legs down on the branch and waited for him stand. She allowed him to lean against her until he could support himself. The ease at which she had lifted him definitely made him wary of her. He hadn't felt a single ripple within her aura, which meant she'd lifted him off of base strength alone.

"She's probably stronger than Rainbow Dash...yikes...Now that's a scary thought...she doesn't look to be any more fit than her...Wonder where she's hiding the muscle"

"So anyway..." Her voice quickly brought him back from his thoughts. He blinked and saw her extending a hand outward for him to take, the gesture she was implying being very obvious, even to him.

It took him a few seconds of staring before he realized what she was doing. "Oh!...Right...Umm..."

He attempted to raise his left arm, but a sharp twinge of pain shot up his shoulder, instantly halting the idea. He made a quick glance at his left side and remembered, upon laying eyes on its charred state, what he'd put it through recently. With a quick chuckle, he attempted to play it off and extend his other hand instead. However this one got even less of a response from him. His whole right arm refused to budge an inch, and instead hung there next to his body like a limp noodle. Frustrated, he strained and scrunched his eyes, attempting to elicit some form of movement from the stubborn limb. Instead it simply remained by his side, swinging in the breeze. He looked up to his rescuer and gave a soft laugh of embarrassment.

"Umm...Yeah...So how about you give me your...ahh...name...Yeah!...What's your name first?"

She raised an eye "Is zer a problem with shaking my hand? Where I am from, zis is considered extremely rude, to deny introductions. Perhaps I am doing somezing wrong? My customs for greeting are so very different from here. Hmm...Ponyvilles peoples never fail to fascinate me."

Feeling a slight twitch in his eye for being called rude, especially when he hadn't actually meant to do it for once, he quickly sputtered out "N-No no! It's not that...it's just...umm...well...I..."

Sighing with resignation, he realized there was no hiding it...he flung his shoulders back and forth, flinging his arms about like they were noodles attached to his body rather than limbs. When he finished, the mystery girl was giving him the strangest of looks.

"I can't move either of my arms for some reason! I mean, I can sort of move my left...but it really hurts to do so. I must have put alot of strain on it during the fight. But my other...I can't tell what's wrong...I just can't move it. At all."

The girl leaned forward on her toes and extended her neck out, almost like she was looking down onto him, rather than at him. This was odd as she was already his height, and there was no reason for her to need to get any taller to notice something on him. Yet nevertheless, upon peering at him from her tiptoes, she gasped sharply and was upon him in a millisecond, poking at his left and right arm with her oddly sharp fingernails.

She started at his left, making him very uncomfortable with her constant jabbing at the tender skin there. She poked and prodded at the charred looking limb, causing him plenty of unnecessary pain as she did so. After a series of "does zis hurts" and "how about heres" she stood back, and said in the most unemotional and matter-a-factly voice he'd ever heard directed at him by anyone other than Twilight

"Well dear...zat arm is as good as dead."

He blinked twice, looking at her sideways "Beg pardon?"

She mirrored his gesture "Did I stutter dear? Your arm is dead. Magically. Jeter...a cast might be in order."

Daybreak released a mouth full of hot air "I am not wearing a granite slab wrapped in gauss over my arm"

The girl momentarily put her hands on her hips, like all girls do when they scold someone, but then decided better of it and simply replied "Well zen get a brace or somezing. To keep your arm from moving for awhile. If you ever vish to cast another spell from zat limb, I suggest you give it some much needed rest."

The idea of walking around looking like a bird with its wing clipped was absolutely appalling to him, but he also knew she had a point. In his travels he'd seen a few cases where overexertion of magic in one specific limb could dull or even kill its ability to channel magic, sometimes permanently if not properly treated with constant rest and healing spells by magic other than the victims.

"Which means I'm gonna need someone's help...greeeeeeat...hmmm, let's see. Rainbow's no good at healing magic, I can say that for near certain just by the odd patch job she gave my back. It's comfortable, but not very effective in the long run. Maybe Sunset Shimmer...I don't think I'd mind that too much, she's more or less my friend now. Well...I know I can mostly trust her at least....ughh, such a pain in the ass."

With a sigh, he relented "Fine...A brace or something...but later, not now. What about the other arm?"

Once again, she went about his side, poking and prodding at him. She leaned closer for this side though, getting right up so close to his arm he could feel her breath along his skin. She would poke, ask if it hurt, or even if he felt it. If and when he said no, she would moved on, but if he said yes, she would drag her finger across his skin, like drawing an X on him. Then she would move on anyways. This odd examination went on for a minute or so, before she finally seemed satisfied.

Pulling her head back from his arm, Daybreak nearly gasped. She seemed to have materialized glasses from nowhere. She was now cleaning them in her hand with a rag that had appeared equally as quickly. For a moment, Daybreak felt a rush of deja vu as his eyes met this girls face when she replaced the glasses atop her nose. The streak in her hair, the glasses, the power...

"Oh gods...no wonder I feel weird..."

A ball of white light suddenly overtook his vision. Regaining his attention, the mystery girl seemed to be holding a shiny ball of white aura atop the tip of a short curved dagger, whihch she grasped firmly in her right hand. He didn't waste time wondering where the dagger had come from, she'd probably just materialized it like her glasses anyways.

"La douleur sera féroce...err...zis will hurt."

"Umm...Ok...will it fix my arm?"

She nodded.

"Then do it."

With another nod, she flicked the tip of her blade forward, letting the small sphere float freely away. She then gently slipped the dagger in the side of her bikini bottoms, holstering it in place and stepping back. Daybreak wondered if he was supposed to do something with this little ball, but he didn't get the chance to ask. The orb began moving towards him on its own, crawling at a snails pace towards his right arm. He watched with anxious anticipation as the orb inched closer and closer to his skin. It felt like an eternity before the little ball finally made contact, but the pain he was promised did not come. The orb simply continued forward, phasing through his skin and vanishing inside his body.

After a moment of silence, Daybreak felt the anticlimactic mood settling over his head. His impatience got the better of him.

"Umm...You said this was supposed to hur-"

Snap!

The words died in his throat, never making it to the surface. He felt white hot, searing pain, welling up in his shoulder. A pain as hot as the spell that had wasted the wolves, and it felt like it was bubbling directly beneath his shoulder blade, or burning through his collar bone. Tears poured into his eyes as he struggled not to squeal like a child. A high pitched note swelled in his throat, but he managed to withhold most of it.

A small "Eeep..." was all that escaped him.

His shoulder felt better instantly, but a severe aching began to settle along his whole arm. He recognized the pain as familiar, but couldn't figure why he was feeling it. He looked to the mystery girl for answers, while slowly beginning to flex and stretch his arm.

"What happened? What did you do?"

The girl brushed her hands together like she'd just finished some dirty task and smiled "I fixed you, and quite remarkably if I may add. I've only ever truly tested zat on noses and a few toes. Never a fully dislocated arm before, I vas almost worried I might fold you like ze pretzel."

Blinking, he now felt extremely foolish for letting this obvious nut case even dare to touch him, he cocked his head, hoping he'd misheard her.

"Pardon you? My shoulder was dislocated...and you healed me...WITH A SPELL YOU'VE NEVER USED BEFORE!?"

She smiled, either not understanding his sudden outburst, or finding actual humor in it. He wasn't entirely sure.

"Ehhh...Yes? Zat vas my first time, twas very good, yes?"

His right eye twitched in unrest "ARE YOU MAD WOMAN?! WHAT IF YOU'D BROKEN MY ARM, OR TURNED IT INTO SOME WEIRD VEGETABLE?! I'M NOT A FUCKING TEST DUMMY YOU KNOW! I'M A PERSON! HOW IRRESPONSIBLE A MAGICIAN CAN YOU BE TO TEST OUT SPELLS LIKE THAT ON...on..."

The words failed him. Not because they were having no obvious effect on the girl before him, but because of a sudden realization he'd come to.

"Im being pretty hypocritical with this here...I mean...I guess I let Twilight do this to me plenty of times when we were kids, but it never really bothered me then. I guess I just had more faith in her."

The girl had moved her hands back to her hips, shooting him an odd look with a single eyebrow raised to him.

"You say you'd rather I not repair your injury? Should I put it back zen?" She reached for her dagger as the blades tip began to glow with bright light once again. Daybreak immediately threw out his right arm, frantically waving it in front of her.

"No! No no no! Absolutely not!...Look...just forget it. We need to move on and find Rainbow Dash. I have to make sure she's ok."

Once again appearing confused, or perhaps that was just the universal look she always had, the girl cocked her head. "Zis Rainbow Dash you keep referring, she is your...fleur dans l'obscurité ? Yes?"

He heard that strong tingle of an accent again. One he couldn't help but feel he'd heard somewhere before. He couldn't quite place it, or the odd language for that matter.

"I don't know what you mean...Err...she is important to me of that's what you mean."

She nodded "Oui...Err...yes, I mean."

He nodded in return. "Then yes, she is my...err fleur-dans-I-obs-urite?"

The crimson haired girl placed a hand to her mouth, stifling a giggle "Pas mal...I shall try to use better phrasing from now on, so as to not have you butcher my tongue yes?"

He felt slightly awkward now. He must have truly destroyed her wording just then. "Uhh...sure thanks I guess."

With another nod, the girl motioned her hand around the groves. "Guide moi...Lead the way.

With a slight smile, he gave her a confirming nod. He lowered his stance, calling forth aura from within his body. He willed it to flow through his limbs, to balance him on an equilibrium, so that he could move normally without the use of his left arm for awhile. He felt the aura swim across his feet, a small bell went off in his head, and he leapt forth!

"Hang on Dashie...I'm coming for you!"