Finding his way around the school grounds had quickly become an easier and easier feat, mostly by necessity, and partially with help from Rainbow Dash. She had recently snuck him a map that showed every portal in the school and where it led, at all times. He would have preferred that the map show the locations of all the students too, but such things only seemed to exist in movies...right?

Either way, he was surprised to learn that the portals inside the school actually changed after hours, transporting students to a variety of places off campus...many of which would have been helpful to know beforehand as a few of them came out at remote ends of Ponyville that would have made his walks much easier. He was thankful for the assistance anyways and was glad to have the map, it would keep him from wondering about aimlessly between classes.

Speaking of the classes, the mornings seemed to drag by, slow and monotonous. He was literally bored for a straight two hours before the bell finally rang to release them from the second study hall that morning. Ms.Cheerilee had opened up his first class with a speech about the economics of Equestria's market, which he of all people, needed no lessons in. Being the son of the very man who specialized in disrupting that very thing had it's advantages. So he spent the better part of that class thinking to himself about Rainbow Dash, and his still unsure feelings about her. After being released to the second class of the day, Daybreak found himself in possibly his least favorite class, even after only two days...Mathematical applications to Magics...with Mr. Dusk. The class was as boring as it sounded, as was the teacher.

Mr. Dusk was one of those teachers that, no matter how hard he tried, or how entertaining he tried to be...the very sound of his voice would lull you to sleep. The man could have spontaneously combusted in the middle of the classroom...but the mere sound of him voicing it would have guaranteed that everyone fell asleep before helping him. He sported a full head of dark purple hair, but it was clear to anyone who looked closely at him, that there were several spots beginning to gray with age. The man made no attempt to hide them either. His eyes always had bags under them, giving the impression he rarely slept, which was odd considering he could have stood in front of a mirror and simply talked himself to sleep. His clothes varied by the day, but always seemed to have a dullness about them, whether they were khakis or sweat pants, the man just seemed to dull everything he touched. He was a good person at heart, Daybreak could tell, he just had that aura that made him uninteresting as a whole. Daybreak frequently wished he could have been so blessed.

The class itself was arguably worse than the teacher, being pointless in Daybreaks eyes. Although magic, math and sciences had always worked hand in hand within most schools and colleges, there were very few discoveries left to be made on the math end. Many people were unwilling to make the necessary leap past the realms of "excepted curricular study". Which really meant they were afraid of delving past the fog of "pure" goodness that was the outer layer of magic, and into the dark unknown. Mathematics did not differentiate between the two. Number were numbers, there was no good or evil, only numerals. The problem was, many magicians feared that if one studied upon darker forms of magic for too long (which math eventually led to simply because it did not differentiate), it would consume and dominate them. In a way, they were correct. "Dark Magic" if one were to be so black and white as to call it such, seemed to punish those who were either unworthy of, or incapable of comprehending, it's nature and power. It always left its scars, no matter how small, and those who used it consistently always paid a price...it took it's toll in any number of forms.

Being born from Discord himself, and Celestia, Daybreaks destiny was decided from the start. Dark magic made up who he was, it was in his very soul from day one. The plus side of that meant that a class like this, held no meaning for him, as he was already aware of every mathematical formula that had ever been tried on any spell to enhance or otherwise change it's nature. Many were practical changes, some were extreme, nearly all were successful in todays studies. Which took away from the challenge, at least in his opinion. This lack of stimulation, left him with tons of free time and zero work to satisfy his brain...so he once again found himself daydreaming about...well...Rainbow Dash.

He recognized this had the potential to transform into a major problem if he really did become smitten with this girl. But at this point, after what she had said to him in bed that morning...he knew it was inevitable that he fall for her, and resistance was futile. The only thing that remained to do, was learn how to deal with his developing feelings in a way that wouldn't distract him from the few classes he actually cared about, or make his life any harder than it had already been. He also needed to make one hundred and ten percent sure, that Twilight never ever ever find out that he, the exiled son of Discord, not only made a friend for the first time in his life...but was also taken with her.

It was a weakness that, knowing Twilight and her hatred for him, she would not fail to take advantage of. Not to mention the absolute rage it would cause her internally. He knew he was a complete hypocrite for everything he was doing...after twenty two years of swearing friendship and love didn't exist and were nothing but weaknesses, now he was about to give in to one, and after only knowing her for two days! Well...three counting this morning, but still.

On the other side of the problem pool, he didn't even know how he should go about expressing his feelings to Rainbow Dash. She had already made it pretty obvious she wanted to sleep with him, literally and sexually. But even that too, could just be her teasing him. She was, after all, like him in many ways. So much so that he wasn't sure what to do about it. He knew she "liked" him...but he wasn't sure if she felt the same burning desire to be around him as he was starting to feel for her.

He had already decided to tell her at some point, most likely after the month of restraint on her ended. He wanted to see how'd she'd react, without a single restraint placed on her or her actions. Granted...this made him fearful in a way...but not enough to discourage him. He wasn't sure about kissing...or sex...but he definitely loved the way it felt when she hugged him against her skin. He felt so warm...like his own little fire had ignited inside his heart and warmed him from the inside. Oddly enough...he felt it was more likely he'd be willing have sex with her...before he ever kissed her.

A kiss just seemed so personal to him...something that signified a bond, even if he didn't believe in love, he still felt a powerful connection to possibly giving her his first kiss. Where's sex...well...he was born from, what had probably been (on his assumption), a one night fling between Celestia and Discord. So...knowing that from a young age, sex never meant much to him. He still valued his virginity as a sign that he was above simply throwing his junk around every hole that opened for him, and that he had the mental discipline to say no. But...if it were Rainbow...when he was around Rainbow...that discipline...the urge to say no...went away...almost completely. That's why he knew he'd at least wait until her month restraint was over. That way, if she did, by some miracle he didn't deserve, happen to feel the same way, he'd at least be prepared for what she might do.

With his thoughts elsewhere, as usual, Daybreak almost didn't even hear the bell releasing them to their third class. Quickly realizing that the class was emptying, Daybreak grabbed his stuff and hurried out the door, towards his favorite class. Magical and Chemical studies, or Magical Chemistry as the students called it, was taught by Professor/Doctor Wilson Hooves, who seemed to prefer simply being called "Doctor" or Doctor Hooves. Simply the man himself, made the class interesting, he portrayed off an aura that still left Daybreak guessing even after two days with the man. Whatever he might be thinking about at the time, all his worries seemed to vanish just being near or touched by the man. His presence seemed to create warmth in others, Daybreak frequently noticed that students who entered the class stressed or upset, never left that way. Another interesting thing about him was, even if the lesson was boring, somehow everyone was always on the edge of their seat, drinking in every word he said like their whole life depended on it. Daybreak suspected this mans aura to be the cause, he no doubt, had many secrets that almost made Daybreak curious enough to investigate.

However he didn't have the time to think about that in today's lesson. For as he and every other student entered the room, which for the past two days had been left mostly dark and dungeon-like in appearance, they all simultaneously gasped. The entire hall had been transformed into several giant stages that were wide enough for two people to stand on without being crowded, but stretched most of the room from front to back. The stages were clad with a blue rug that had several hourglasses painted onto it in many different shapes and sizes. The Doctor himself stood at the far end of the nearest stage, his normal lab coat gone, but he looked basically the same, other than an oddly unnerving smile going from ear to ear on his face.

"Come in students, today is special lesson that I'm sure you all will enjoy for our third day back....A magic duel!"

Even as they all clamored inside the brightly lit room, they could tell that the Doctor was severally more excited today than he had been the past two. Whether that was because of the lesson of the day or something else, they could not be sure. Most of them had given up trying to understand him on the second day. By now most had adopted a wait and see approach to anything he did. Daybreak however, was not content to wait and see. Upon hearing the words "Magic Duel" he instinctively began to shrink towards the back of the growing crowd, doing his best to hide himself from the Doctor's attention. Whether because of this, or by fate, the Doctor seemed to look directly at him once all the other students had entered the class.

A sudden feeling of warmth in his chest told him Rainbow Dash was close, and as he looked to his side, he saw his odd feelings were correct. She had just succeeded in shoving her way through several students to get to his side. She flashed him a quick smile and turned her attention to the Doctor. Daybreak quickly followed suite once he heard him clear his throat to speak.

"Today...will be an interesting day to be sure. I'm sure all of you are aware of what a magic duel consists of along with it's consequences and benefits. But for those of you who don't, I'll be sure to reiterate them before we start. First, I want you all to divide up into pairs and find a stage. It may not look it, but there will be more than enough once we begin."

Daybreaks eyes immediately homed in on Rainbows, and they quickly nodded to each other, then scurried towards the closest stage before most of the others had even begun to move. It was clear to Daybreak that Rainbow must have known enough about what a magic duel consisted of to realize, them pairing up was the best idea. Other than the obvious dueling aspect of the engagement, it came with several rules, many of which he was sure the Doctor could not legally enforce in a classroom setting. But just in case, he'd rather be paired up with Rainbow Dash should the worst happen.

"Not that I have to worry about losing, no matter who I'm paired up with. None of these people even come close to my level...well except for Twilight. But I've no intention of letting her duel me. This classroom would never survive the encounter...and I'm not sure both of us would either."

Upon climbing atop the nearest stage, a clean wall of hazel colored energy sprung up from the stage and surrounded both he and Rainbow Dash. For a quick moment he reacted instinctively and began to build his own energy to resist whatever would come next...but after a short analysis of the wall, he lowered his guard and allowed it to surround his body. Then the room he was in vanished from view and was quickly replaced with blinding white light.

A moment passed, with his eyes closed, as he allowed the space he had been sent, to fully form before he took it in. When he again opened his eyes, he saw that his assumption of the energy wall had been correct. It had been a small dimensional portal...and he had been sucked through it. Moments later, Rainbow Dash appeared a few feet away from him, however the manner in which she formed caused heat to rise in his face.

"Sweet Luna! If I came in like that I'm glad I beat her here!"

Although the transportation would have been too fast for a normal person to notice...Daybreak was far from normal, and was able to slow down what he saw, to analyze it...much like the pause or slow motion option in a movie, it came with his magical sight. He watched as Rainbows body formed a single millisecond before her clothes did, once again the image of her form embedded itself within his brain, never to leave. As she appeared, she quickly looked over to him, still clearly surprised by what had happened.

"Where are we?"

"A good question...and an even harder one to answer...guess she's never experienced a real duel before...lucky her"

He gave her a small smile

"Well...It's kind of hard to explain...The Doctor basically opened a small dimensional rift and sucked us through it. This is the space used for magic duels...real ones. I guess you could say this is a space between space...or nothingness. Nothing we do here will affect the outside world."

Rainbow looked around, her expression flabbergasted as she took in her surroundings, or rather, lack there of.

"It's so...blank...and empty...I feel weird in here"

"I'd be surprised if you didn't"

"That's the cold of nothingness you feel Dash. It happens to everyone on their first duels, don't worry. It can't hurt you...well as long as you don't die at least." He chuckled aloud, but it didn't seem to make Rainbow feel better.

"Die? What do you mean die? Why would I die?"

A worried look had come over her face, Daybreak quickly caught what was bothering her.

"Oh no, I don't mean it that way. You shouldn't...you won't die. It's just, this is where real magical duels happen. As in, to the death duels. So, death in here has more of a consequence then out there."

He motioned towards where the rift had previously opened with his thumb. "Out there, if you die, you're dead, your magical energy becomes one with the planet and fuels the growth of new life, and so on, or whatever you believe. But in here...in here if you die...you cease to exist, your energy will never leave and everything that you are is lost to the cold. Sometimes, it's even worse. For example, death for an extremely powerful magic user in here, can have odd repercussions out there."

Rainbow shifted away from the edge of the stage, as though the white abyss might seize her if she got to close to the sides. "Like...what kind of repercussions are we talking about here?"

Daybreak laughed aloud

"Nothing you have to concern yourself with Dash, we won't die cause this isn't a real magic duel. This will likely be the closest thing the Doctor can get away with though, and mock duels are still dangerous...though I'm surprised he brought us to the True Space for the duel rather than some kind of environment."

Her expression once again showed confusion

"How much does she actually know about duels...I'm starting to think she just paired up with me cause we're friends..."

"I'm not exactly sure how to explain...this white nothingness that you see all around us is called the True Space. It's literally nothing more than a pocket in our dimension...most magicians never fight here unless they intend to have a real duel, to the death. Otherwise they normally fill the True Space with some kind of environment setting, like a snowy mountain, or a grassy plain...to keep the vacuum of nothingness at bay and occupied on absorbing something else...it's hard to explain that part. Anyways...the space would have all the effects and changes that each specific terrain would. For example, if we were sent to a volcano setting, and if it were to erupt, we couldn't just ignore the magma. Cause in here it's real, and can still harm you quite effectively as it would in reality. But in the True Space, with no environment introduced, anything can happen. This place is created from the rawest forms of magic, and is made up of nothing but. So one second we could be in this plane white arena, the next there might be eight walls separating us. It should be fun."

Rainbow cocked her head to the side

"Fun? How does that sound like fun? This place sounds like a death trap!"

Daybreak found cheeky grin spreading across his face

"It is!"

Rainbow suddenly returned his smile and lowered her stance, bringing her overall body closer to the floor

"Your crazy dude, certain death sounds like fun to you?...I like it! Guess I'm not the only nutjob at this school after all! Let's get it on!"

She made it halfway through her first step before Daybreak held up an open palm, signaling her to stop.

"Woah there Dash, calm down. We don't start on our own, we have to wait for the Doctor to start the duel. A third party always initiates and closes the duel. That way an outside source can judge if he or she thinks the duel is getting out of hand. Then they can just end it, which will instantaneously restrict all magic and place a powerful gravity barrier on everyone present in this space. I'd rather not cause that prematurely, so sit your butt down. Something tells me we are gonna be waiting awhile."

Although her annoyance showed plain as day on her expression, she nevertheless complied. She sat down crossed legged on the blue hourglass rug, he followed suite a moment later.

"So what make you think we'll be waiting awhile...I hate waiting..."

"Not to long-"

"How about not long at all?"

Daybreak took a small leap back, as a holographic image of the Doctor appeared where he previously stood, sprouting forth from the floor like a bean stalk. Rainbow leaned forward, reaching out her hand and passing it through the teal, shimmering image of the Doctor.

"Cool...Never seen that before"

"This girl's never been in a duel in her life...goddess..."

The Doctor nodded his head to both of them, casting a gleaming smile as he motioned his hands on either side of the stage.

"If you two would be so kind, take your places at either end of the stage and we shall begin shortly."

Daybreak nodded and turned towards the end he was closest too, he began walking. After a moment, Rainbow did so as well. Once they were both standing on each end of the stage, The Doctor's voice boomed across the space.

"Alright students, today's lesson will be a magic duel using all standardized rules. With authority granted from the headmistress, and my own assurances that you all are strong and capable enough to partake, we shall be changing none of the rules, save for one. For obvious reasons, we will not be dueling to the death. The duels shall end when one student concedes defeat, or is unable to continue channeling magic in an effective manner of defense or attack."

Daybreak took a small step back on the stage, his eyes widening in horror.

"Standardized rules? What is the Doctor playing at? There's no way that he can...wait! This can work for me..."

Rainbow Dash cocked her head at him, even from this distance, she could see how troubled The Doctors words made him.

"Hey Dude!" She yelled across the stage to him, her voice echoing like the Doctors had. "Is something wrong? What's standardized rules mean?"

The holo image of the Doctor smiled. Daybreak had a small feeling that this image was being shown to every dueler at the same time in the other pocket dimensions, so he couldn't be reacting to what Rainbow asked. But if his smile was any indication, that meant that everyone who had been in duels before must have reacted much the same way Daybreak had. The Doctors image cleared its throat

"I assure you, none of you are in any danger. Although this is the lesson for today, this practice is also being conducted for another reason entirely, and is being viewed by the Headmistress herself. So please, do your best and follow the rules. Now in a moment, my image shall flicker once, for those of you who already know the rules and wish to get started right away, one of you simply needs to pass your hand through this image and it shall immediately skip to the count down to the match. I must warn you though, once the count down begins, it cannot be stopped. So I would advise everyone simply watch and-"

At that precise moment, the Doctor's image flickered, and Daybreaks arm shot out quick as lightning. His arm went straight through the image, giving the impression he had impaled the hologram on his arm. He left his hand within it's center until he heard the voice cease speaking. Then large red numbers appeared over holo's head and he began speaking once more.

"Beginning count down to duel, please prepare yourself..."

"WHAT THE FUCK DUDE!?"

Daybreak turned to see Rainbow Dash shooting him a very pissed off look, but he didn't care. He had to explain the rules to her himself if he wanted any chance of keeping his identity hidden.

"Shut up Dash, now's not the time for your ego...I need you to save my life! Of course, I can't very well just come out and say that..."

The large numbers over the holo image's head began to cycle down from ten. Daybreak quickly withdrew his arm and yelled to Rainbow Dash.

"Listen to me Rainbow! In ten seconds that timer will run out and we have to fight each other with everything we've got!"

9

Rainbow opened her mouth to reply, but he quickly cut her off

"Shut up and listen. The rules don't matter now, the only thing that matters is that you come at me with everything you've got understand? Everything! Don't hold back one bit or I'll-"

8

"-Seriously hurt you"

Her expression went blank for about three seconds. He used those three second to begin building up his energy.

"I've got to make this quick and fast to avoid the detection spells that will be watching! The only reason for standardized matches are to root someone out, someone powerful, usually to use as recruits for the Royal Guard...but this is too convenient, only three days after I get here, and a day after Twilight threatens to expose me. That's the only reason the headmistress would watch, I can't be that someone that get's noticed. They can already sense my power if we are in here...holding back would only make me look suspicious, so I've got to go with everything I've got and hope Rainbow does the same. Maybe...if she wins I can get out of this with my head"

4

The stage beneath them began to sink downwards into the white abyss, Rainbow stumbled forward, but did not fall. Meanwhile Daybreak lowered himself into a horse fighting stance, with both feet facing forward and the side of his body facing Rainbow Dash.

"Come on Dashie...Get it together, I'm gonna need you to fight."

3

Rainbow continued to stumble until the floor fully sunk into the white, then she quickly looked up at him. For a singular second, they locked eyes across the former stage.

2

"Dash..." His voice called out, crackling as though stung by frostbite "...Please...if you...if you fight me with everything you've got and win...I'm yours, I'll do whatever you want...just please don't hold back."

Their eyes remained locked for a moment, Rainbow looked at the timer, then back to him, her face gleamed, all inner questions dying the moment she heard him.

1

She smiled at him, even from afar, he could see the confidence quickly find her features again...she nodded. Her power flared up within her instantaneously, quickly matching his in ferocity, and overwhelming the stale air around them.

"Good job Dash. Now all I need is a bit of luck...and a good fight. Well...at least I know I'll get one of the two.."

"Go!" The Doctor's voice boomed through the abyss!

Daybreak moved with zero hesitation, his first three steps gave him the momentum he needed, and the next three gave him the distance. As his seventh step struck the abyss floor, he pushed from the 'ground' with all the might his legs could muster and flung himself into the air. Dash was either too stunned to act, or wasn't sure how to react, as he propelled himself higher and higher into the white sky. He was thrown half by his own lower body strength, and half by the magical energies he had sent coursing through his muscles seconds before the jump.

As he reached the peak of his ascent, he pulled back both of his arms, as though he were to throw two baseballs at once, and thrust them forward so hard his arms might have popped out of there sockets were it not for the magic coursing through them. The pure, and burning flames of raw energy that burst forth from his palms would have been wondrous to behold outside of the True Space, and possibly hot enough to burn through steel. However here, deep within the True Space where the cold vacuum of nothingness always fed on magic and power, the flames were little more than emerald pillars of fire, bursting forth from Daybreaks palms.

Fire, or magic, they seemed to do their job well enough regardless. The speed at which they reached Rainbow Dash was too quick for any normal person to dodge, but Daybreak knew Rainbow was no normal person. As the flames reached her, he felt her magic stir to life, and watched the abyss ripple as she jumped away, seeming to vanish in thin air. Daybreak knew she had merely moved so fast that it had only appeared she had vanished. It was a testament to her hidden powers. Powers that it seemed, she was very willing to use.

Daybreak looked around, raising his hands in a fighting position, to covers his torso and face from attack. Even with his magical sight, and sensory abilities, his eyes were still left darting around attempting to discern where she had gone. For a moment, he began to think she really had, just vanished into thin air.

"Perhaps she really is a sorceress like Twilight...and those athletics...weird she's not number one if that's true...If she simply vanished she could be anywhere in here. This place stretches on for eternity..."

When she did not appear after another minute of waiting, Daybreak lowered his arms and conceded she had moved farther inside the space than he could sense. The moment his arms touched the sides of his hips, he felt dread well up within his belly. He looked up a second too late, as a shoe, attached to a smooth cyan leg came crashing down onto his face, knocking him into the white ground and sending his eyes derped in their sockets. His head must have bounced against the ground, because he felt it only hit once before he was being pulled back up to his legs by the scruff of his shirt.

"Well...so much for making this quick...Maybe this is still salvageable if I work it right..."

He saw Rainbows arm pulling him around to face her, once he was half way around, he brought up his right arm from the ground, and hurled a fire blast straight into Rainbows face. She released him and leaned by to dodge, the fire missing her multicolored hair by inches and slightly singeing her as it passed. With her head leaned back, Daybreak brought down his elbow into her gut as quick as he could, hoping to gain an edge in the fight. However, with how close he already was to her body, he couldn't muster much force behind the blow, but it struck home nevertheless. Rainbow curled inward and dropped onto her back as his lower arm connected with her gut, folding her in like paper.

She hit the ground hard, Daybreak quickly stood over her and stepped on her arms with his feet, pinning them to the floor. Then he prepared a green fire ball within the center of his palm. Holding it over his head he smiled down at her

"Let's see you dodge this one hot-head"

He brought down his hand, and watched, seemingly in slow motion as the green ball of flame loosed from his hand and hurtled down at Rainbows face. At the last moments before impact, he felt her buck her whole body upwards, stumbling him, one of his feet came off her arm. In that moment, she shot both of her feet straight up, barely missing his chin, but succeeding in making him stumble enough back for her to force him off, and roll slightly to the left as the fire struck where her head had just been. She rolled onto her stomach, leaping to her feet and snarling at him. She barely gave him enough time to regain his balance before she went on the offensive, a wild, fiery, look glazed across her eyes.

She leapt towards him, swinging punches wildly at his face and torso. They lacked form and grace, but she made up for it with speed and ferocity. His instincts and experience clashed with her speed and fierceness. Her fists found marks all over his arms, but did not break his defense. He was forced into a back stepping retreat as she rained punches down upon him, too quickly for him to counter attack.

Daybreaks continued back stepping came to quick end when Rainbow suddenly broke trend and dropped low to the ground sweeping across his feet with her right leg extended. She caught him halfway through a step and off balance, making him easy prey for her quick movements. She swept straight through his feet with barely any resistance and knocked him straight to the ground, on his back. She quickly leapt on top of him, straddling his torso and pining his arms to the ground with her knees.

"Fuck! Ow...that's painful...I hate close combat, so uncivilized in a modern day of magic..."

He struggled beneath her legs, but to no avail, he was thoroughly pinned and had no leverage to remove her. He would lose the duel by default if he did not escape soon. Rainbow sat there upon his arms, her fist extended inches from his face, daring him to try and fight back. He glared up at her

"This is a good position she's got me in...my legs can't help me with no leverage, and my arms are pinned beneath her knees, which she's putting most of her weight on. I need something to distract her, if only just enough to shift her weight...I need to fight with magic...but how?

His eyes darted from her smug grin, down her chest to her spread legs. He suddenly got an evil idea as he noticed where she was sitting on him...

"No...no there's no way I can do something like that...I have no idea how the headmistress might react if she's watching...or the Doctor."

"If the student fails to channel magic effectively or fails to escape within the next minute, he shall be forced to concede defeat!"

A deep voice that Daybreak did not recognize boomed across the abyss. He wasn't about to doubt the truth behind that, he needed to escape now, even if he had to get a bit lecherous to do it.

"Hey Dashie?" He forced his voice to come out as sultry and seductive as possible. Of course, having someone pressing down on your legs with their butt certainly made it hard to even speak at all. Nevertheless his tone got her attention. She raised an eyebrow

"What?"

He pretended to be shy, as though what he was trying to say was causing him some degree of discomfort.

"C-could you...maybe move farther up my chest if your gonna pin me like this....y-you're butt...is rubbing across me alot...it's making it hard to focus on our fight..."

He watched her face flush with color, she blushed hard. Chancing a glance behind her back, she saw she was indeed straddling his pelvis. She jumped a bit in surprise as he slightly moved is hips, gently grinding against her tight athletic shorts just the right way. Her slight movement, and moment of distraction was just what he had wanted and hoped for. As she jumped at the movement of his hips, he quickly slipped out one of his hands from under her knee. With a merciless amount of power, he quickly brought it to the side of her head, and just as she realized what had happened, let loose a powerful stream of magic into her face that sent her spiraling across the room!

Daybreak jumped up from his back, onto his feet the moment he was free from Rainbows weight. He watched her bounce and slide across the floor for a good fifteen feet before coming to a halt, and laying limp. He knew how much power he had released, he had purposely held back most of his energy in that blast. He didn't want to hurt her, but with any luck, she at least wouldn't be getting back up. Of course, his luck was terrible, so he was hardly surprised when she was already working herself back into a standing position after only a moment of playing possum.

She came up with her hair down across her face, giving her a somewhat wild look. Her gaze found and pierced him like a knife, the fiery look of rage that she used was almost frightening to experience, Her voice came out as wild as her hair made her look

"Oh you are so fucked now asshole! Nobody fucks with Rainbow Dash like that!"

"I supposed I should be happy, now she's pissed, so this should get serious...but somehow I know this is gonna suuuuuck..."

He felt her move, before he actually saw it. A ripple in the abyss traveled across his body before her actual form shifted, but he was still barely prepared for what came next. She vanished much like she had before, but he had barely lifted his hands when her blows started striking him this time. Her fists moved like lightning, forcing him to retreat and duck backwards rather than try and block her attacks. She did not hold with punches for long, after only thirty seconds of repeated blows, she quickly jumped over his head, and before he could turn around, planted a foot in his back, sending him stumbling forward. She appeared in front of him again while he was off balance, clothes-lining him, catching his neck in her arm, and slamming him into the ground!

Even as he gasped for breathe, he quickly found the strength to move again, rolling out of the way as her foot smashed into the floor where his head had just been. He came to his feet as she appeared before him again, planting a undercut fist into his gut! He stumbled over, and she brought her other fist upwards into his jaw, upper cutting him and knocking him over, once again on his back. Adrenaline flooded through his bloodstream as his eyes flashed with rage and drips of blood tasted on his tongue

"Ok, fuck you...fuck holding back! You're going down!

Rainbow appeared over him again, bringing her foot down at his face without delay. Before she could break his nose with the force of her strike, she found her limbs frozen in place, surrounded by forest green aura. Daybreaks right hand was extended with flaming energy coursing around it, and holding her limbs in place. With a quick flick of his wrist, he sent her corkscrewing across the room, paralyzed by his spell! She crashed into the ground, but rolled and came up on her feet, laughing.

"About time you started trying, I was getting bored tossing you around like a doll." She winked at him, her power flared up again.

Anticipating the ripple of power that always occurred before she moved, Daybreak was ready for her. She vanished and came at him. Her fist appeared before his face, he was ready this time. He ducked under it and moved in close to her, placing a palm on her chest, he built up and released an ball of energy on her chest. She brought her other hand around and karate chopped his hand to the side as he released the built energy, then grasped hold of his arm and pulled him forward, connecting a punch with his face using his momentum against him. He took the punch head on, and brought his own fist around the side of her head, striking her in the jaw. He knocked her to the side, making her stumble a few feet, then quickly followed through with a roundhouse kick to the opposite side of her head. She brought up both her hands and took the kick, using the force behind it to knock her into a roll to Daybreaks right side. She came up with a quick jab to his ribs, he grimaced in pain and brought down a palm at her head. She narrowly avoided his chop by diving under his legs and coming up behind him, however instead of turning to attack her, he allowed his palm to strike the ground, which then ignited in white light!

The ground beneath Rainbows feet suddenly exploded upward in ice shards, sprouting forth and slashing across her clothing and arms! Forcing her to jump backwards instead of striking at his back gave Daybreak a momentary advantage that he didn't intend to waste. He closed the small distance between them with a few steps and planted a fist in Rainbows gut while she was off balance, as she doubled over, Daybreak half considered dropping an elbow on the back of her head, but for some reason, couldn't bring himself to do it.

Instead he brought his knee up and smashed her in the face, bringing her back up to eye level as she howled in pain. He delivered two quick jabs to her stomach before she could recover, and allowed her a moment to breath as she stepped back from the blows. After he saw her take two quick breaths, he came at her again, she was still very dazed from his knee striking her nose, and he intended to milk that for it's worth. He grabbed her by the several bits of torn fabric now hanging from her shirt and pulled her into another firm fist to the gut. Without delay, he then delivered a side kick to her ribs fueled with magic. She was throw back several feet, as well as gaining a huge burn hole directly over her belly on her shirt. This time she stumbled and almost fell.

"A few more and she's done.

He found that slightly disappointing, he had hoped she'd beat him, being sworn to her service would have protected him from being thrown out of the school if he was discovered as Discords son. Anyone who lost a magic duel and survived was granted the ability to serve the winner, it was seen as a way to regain ones lost honor by showing acceptance of defeat and lack of distaste or spite towards the victor. Though it looked like he'd have to find another way now. He quickly moved in to finish her, but before he could strike, he found himself grasped up into the air, and propelled backwards across the abyss. A powerful gust had appeared from nowhere, and knocked him away from Rainbow. Stunned, he looked around for some explanation...but found only Rainbow Dash, with her arm slightly extended and cyan energy lightly buzzing across her skin. Then he understood what had happened.

"Oh wow...she's a weather caster...hmm never would have guessed that...wait...that means....oh fuck me!"

He looked above his head in fear, his concerns instantly became reality as several large black clouds were beginning to form within the sky of the True Space. He didn't hesitate, he took off running, but instead of retreating like he should have, he instead ran towards Rainbow Dash.

"I have to finish her now!"

That was the only thought in his mind as he reached her, he had to beat her before her clouds could become a problem, but that wasn't going to be easy now. She had clearly regained her composure since his attacks, or perhaps her stores of magic were fueling her stamina, either way she had regained her speed. He came at her with a flaming green fist, which she grabbed (much to his surprise) then used to pull his arm past her with his own momentum again, and delivered and elbow strike to the side of his head, causing him to stumble, but not falter in his attack. As he stumbled he threw a small green fireball at her face, which he was sure would hit her. It probably would have, if the wind had not immediately kicked up, and redirected it ever so slightly past her head. He grimaced in annoyance, this was why weather casters were damned annoying. He had only met a few in his life, and none ever went down quietly or easily. He glanced at the hand which had grasped his flaming punch, it was clearly burned, but Rainbow was still managing to clench a fist anyways. He couldn't help finding a sort of attraction in that.

"She's tough as nail this girl...and as prideful as me...no wonder..."

He shook away his thoughts, he saw her coming again. She jumped and brought an axe kick down at his head, which he was forced to roll away from to avoid any magic behind the strike. He was lucky he had, the moment her foot hit the surface, lightning from the storm clouds above struck where her foot touched ground. He swallowed a large lump in his throat as he rose again.

"Yikes...that would have fried me...she's vicious when she's upset!"

He would have smiled if he wasn't so terrified, he couldn't remember the last time he was actually afraid of one of his opponents. Twilight had never sparked this kind of desire to fight inside of him, this kind of passion for battle, she had always just been practice to him. Rainbow Dash though, she was something else. So prideful and so good looking, so much fire behind her every word and punch. She fought with passion and aggression, and it was a thing he could appreciate...and admire. She was so much like him, and yet in so many ways...she was everything he couldn't be.

Another swift kick to the mouth brought him out of his thoughts. As he staggered back, spitting blood and his vision slightly blurring, he saw Rainbows outline move again. Without any thought, he smashed both his hands into the ground! Pillars of green fire erupted from beneath the floor, barely missing Rainbow Dash as she jumped back several paces. The pillars circled around Daybreak, protecting him but also daring Rainbow forward. The fact that they were moving around him had been done on purpose, and Rainbow was willing to bet it was so she might try and get through them. The pillars granted Daybreak a moment to clear away the spots in his vision from Rainbows kick. He shook his head.

"Ow...No more daydreaming during a fight... this feels worse than the time I drank a whole barrel of hard cider at that bar in Manehatten."

Clearing the last of the spots, Daybreak refocused his vision on Rainbow, who was standing a few feet back from the pillars circling him, eyeing him up. He smirked

"What's a matter Skittles? Can't you get past a defense as simple as this? It's just a matter of timing is all, or was math never your strong suite in high school?"

He watched her grit her teeth, and took a small satisfaction in knowing he had stumped her for now. He took this time to gather his strength, he had a feeling he would need it once she got through. He assumed a crossed legged sitting position in the center of his flames, and began channeling energy throughout his body.

He had no idea how long they had been fighting up till now, time passed very awkwardly inside pocket dimensions, especially the True Space, which could warp reality better than his father. However he had to assume it hadn't been longer than a class period, it was highly unlikely that the Doctor would make them miss another class for a mock duel...but still, with the Doctor you never know. He briefly opened an eyelid to glance at what Rainbow was up to. He was surprised to see she was still standing where she had been before, except now she looked to be talking to herself. Too bad he didn't have magic hearing along with sight, it would have been handy right then.

Rainbow glanced at the spinning pillars, attempting to keep track of each one as they moved, and trace their speed around Daybreak. Each one of the seven pillars moved in a clockwise motion around their creator with mathematical precision. But she had learned from Twilight that every spell had a weakness, whether it was in the castor, the spell itself or the environment it was used in, everything could be exploited and defeated, if one was simply patient enough to find it.

"One, two, three, four, five, six...seven. Odd."

She stared harder, sure she hadn't seen incorrectly, but not willing to take the chance in case she was wrong.

"One, two, three, four, five, six...seven pillars spinning at that speed...with such a short distance from him...hmm....well, would ya look at that. She had been right after all. The pillars did have a small flaw to them, and now that she had it, it was only a matter of exploiting it.

She smiled to herself, there was a time when she would have simply charged head on into the flames and relied on her gut instincts to guide her, and she would have likely come out with several singes on her body. Although she still let her emotions run free with her ego most of the time anyways, Twilight had helped her learn over the years. She had taught her that with the right kind of patience in some situations, she could become a dangerous force to be reckoned with. Now she wasn't always led by the heat of passion (maybe about 70% of the time she wasn't) and had learned to think before acting. With Twi's help, she had been able to grasp a deeper knowledge of her own powers, and some added analytical skills she didn't even know she had. Now it was time to put those abilities to use. She gathered up a huge volume of energy inside her, and prepared to release it all at once.

"Get ready Daybreak! Here I come!

Daybreak suddenly found it harder to breathe than it had been a moment ago. The air tasted wet, and caught in his throat, nearly making him choke. He made a few small coughs and opened his eyes, his pillars of emerald flames still encompassed him, each one about five feet away from him. Just far enough away to keep their heat from affecting him, which was why he could now taste and smell the difference in the air. He knew that smell...the smell of rain. He looked up in time for a small pellet of water to smack him in the eye. He blinked in annoyance, hating the world as the water cleared from his vision.

"Figures..."

Several drops began to rain down from the starch white sky as it turned grey with storm clouds. Daybreak smiled to himself

"Nice try Rainbow, but a little rain won't douse my flames."

He coughed, once again finding a difficulty in breathing in the wet air. It felt heavy around him, as though he were being weighed down by it. He stood from his sitting and looked through the spinning pillars at Rainbow. She stood just twenty feet from the circle that the flames made around him, with her palms pressed together in front of her chest. To the ordinary eye, this looked like some kind of weird prayer, but Daybreak knew better.

"She's channeling magic...probably for this storm she's hoping to drown my flames with. Not that it'll help much."

He knew what would happen, she hoped to douse him with enough rain to put out his pillars completely or make them falter, then she would rush in and attack him. This was exactly what he wanted. The moment she tried to step through the doused flames, he would be ready to revive them and close them in on her. Since this was magical fire of his own making, he could change it's density, and make the pillars physically smack her down rather than burn her body. All he had to do now was wait.

He felt another cough reach his mouth, and he slightly doubled over as he hacked for breathe.

"What's with this air in here...why is it so thick and wet...I feel like I'm suffocating in here...wait...what the...?!

He looked down as he coughed, and saw white mist rising up from ground below him.

"What...Is that...steam? Why...?

He looked around, confused as to what was happening. Again he glanced at Rainbow, who, although was still pressing her palms together, was now looking directly through the flames at him.

"No...not at me...she's looking above me..."

Looking straight up as another cough struck his lungs, he saw what she was staring at. A large white cloud was forming mere feet above his pillars, nearly covering their top in white air.

"T-that...that clever...uggh..."

A feeling of weightlessness suddenly traveled up his spine, he forced himself to drop to a knee to keep from falling over.

"She's smarter than I gave her credit for...forming a steam cloud above my pillars to soak up the oxygen inside, combined that with the closeness of my flames to me, and no air can get in from the outside either. The rain above and the flames below continue to give the steam life while providing a perfect way to smoke me out, all she has to do is focus her magic on giving the cloud a physical shape and enhancing the weathers effects...and she's got me. Or so she thinks..."

He felt his head becoming dizzy and knew he had only a minute or two before he would likely pass out from lack of breathable air. He had to act now! Stretching his right arm forward, noting how heavy it suddenly felt, he formed a small fire ball inside his palm, and sent it flying.

"All I need to do is break her concentration and that cloud should lose it's shape, giving me some breathable air."

he watched as his fire ball soared through the spinning pillars, made it out into the small rainstorm...and completely changed direction, soaring straight over Rainbow's head by a drastic degree!

"What the fuck?!...oh...right..."

His mind briefly flashed back to his last attempt to toss fire at her. He squinted his eyes, and through the fire he could indeed see their was a strong wind blowing around Rainbow Dash.

"Son of my mother!...She really is clever...damn it...looks like I've got no choice."

Dropping his hand back down to his side, he shoved both hands outwards. A fiery green spark snapped forth from wither palm, and suddenly his pillars began to move outwards, farther away from him. It felt like a much larger strain than it should have been to move them, but he knew that was from his lack of air.

"I just need them far enough away to let me breathe..."

He watched as the pillars slowly made their journey outwards, still circling as they did so. He attempted to boost the speed at which they moved to make up for the distance apart, but found he had little strength to do so. After about thirty seconds of slow moving, he saw the pillars break the edges of Rainbows steam cloud and he could practically feel the air hit his face. He took a huge breath as the spots started to clear from his vision, and doubled back over in a coughing fit, attempting to hack up the bad air from before.

"Damn!..."

At that precise moment, he saw Rainbow through spots in his eyes. She dropped her hands from her chest and took off in a full sprint towards the pillars, now a mere ten feet from her. She dove through the spinning pillars effortlessly now that they were so far apart, and came up in front of Daybreak. Barely able to stand, much less move, Daybreak saw her coming in slow motion, a curse in this situation as he could see no viable way out. Out of sheer desperation he threw up three thin walls of fire in front of his face hoping to deter her from punching him, but he knew it was over when her momentum did not slow. She ran head first through all three walls, leaving several burns across her figure, and with all the strength she could muster, drove an uppercut straight into the bottom of Daybreaks chin! The force of her blow, stood him up and launched him backwards, landing him flat on his back!

He felt his body hit the ground, and felt his sense go numb. He couldn't move, her blow had sent his body into a small shock. Whether there had been magic behind her blow or not, he didn't know or care. He simply laid there, looking up at the dissipating storm clouds as they faded back into nothingness.

"I...Lost...?"

Author's Notes:

Hope you all liked it and were able to understand how Rainbow won. I've been trying to get better at writing fight scenes, hope this is an improvement.