Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrow, her wings flare, puffing her chest out menacingly. She takes a deep breath, focusing on exactly where Doug is standing. She slowly exhales, blowing a steady stream of tightly controlled air into a rough circle, carefully watching how the tiny contrails barely drift. Perfect conditions.

Doug bends his knees, not quite to a crouch, as he slips each nail between his fingers, sharp point out. His other hand loosely holds the hammer at his side, not wanting to appear too threatening. He takes one deep breath after another, readying himself for the inevitable charge.

A single flap of Rainbow Dash’s wings blasts a massive cloud of dirt backwards while the mare bursts forward. She zooms past Doug with blinding speed, single outstretched hoof passing what feels like inches from his head.

Doug barely has time to react to the charge, only managing to bring his arms up to cover his face as a shockwave of air slams into him. He skids back several feet, barely able to keep his balance. He spins around, legs unsteady. Holy shit that was close. Nearly took my head clean off! I need something like a pike if I want any chance against that move. He glances to the fence post and long railings no longer next to him. Might work. But if she wants to, she can just torpedo you with basically anything. His attention turns back to the cerulean mare casually standing a dozen yards behind him, gritting his teeth and no longer hiding his intended use of the hammer.

“I did that on purpose,” Rainbow Dash says neutrally, her wings flaring out a second time. Pony I poured too much into that. Gonna be sore later. “I don’t have to miss.”

Doug warily watches her, slowing his breathing down. “I believe you,” he returns, debating whether he could close the distance and land some sort of strike. Or somehow goad her into attacking slower, or throw some dirt into her massive magenta eyes, or use some sort of deception to get her to lower her guard. “So what happens now?”

Rainbow Dash smirks as they both stand there. He still thinks he has a chance? Awesome. “We face each other as Celestia intends. Sportsponylike.” Her wings fold against her back, hoof motioning towards the hammer. “No tricks. No weapons. Skill against skill alone.”

Doug’s eyes narrow, not entirely untrusting of her meaning but unsure if he has any other options. “You mean,” he says carefully, a hint of a smile on his mouth, “that you’ll put away your wings, and I’ll put down my hammer, and we’ll try to kill each other like civilized people?”

“Wait, what?” Rainbow Dash exclaims, briefly taken aback. “I’m not trying to kill you.” She rolls her eyes, hoof spinning around in circles. “I mean-” her wings flare out again as her menacing look returns “-I could kill you now. If I wanted.” Her wings settle back against her body. “But I don’t.” Her head cocks to the side slightly, eyes narrowing. “Were you going to try to kill me?”

Doug frowns, body tensing. “Depends how hard you came at me. After that?” He glances behind him at the cloud of dust still settling to the ground. “...Probably. No, certainly. Unless you gave me a chance to surrender.” And if you did?

Rainbow Dash nods, her muzzle pursed, as if she understands exactly what is going through Doug’s head. “And that might give you a chance to close the distance. Think that’s clever?”

“Might be the only chance I have,” Doug says unapologetically.

The two stare at each other for several long seconds.

“So,” Doug says as he lets the nails slip from his fingers, setting the hammer down next to them. “How does this ‘Celestia Intends’ method of fighting work?” Please say interpretive dance battle.

“Mostly wrestling,” Rainbow Dash explains, “where we lock forelegs and try to shove each other over. Or we flail at each other with our hooves.” She inspects her hoof and her ultralightweight Flier X2 shoe, then glances at Doug’s unshod appendages. I guess that’s why he grabbed the hammer. “But you probably don’t want to do that.”

“Sure,” Doug says, laughing internally at Rainbow’s description of their fighting and the images it evokes, of cats waving their arms at each other and calling it an epic battle. And I certainly don’t want to get clobbered in the head by what’s effectively a mace at the end of their hoof. “Though, I think the odds are slightly in your favor in pony wrestling.”

“In experience, sure,” Rainbow Dash says cautiously, sizing Doug up. “And I don’t even exercise. But you’ve got a bit of reach on me.”

“It’s not my fault I’m the biggest and strongest,” Doug says as he spreads his arms wide. “And I’m calling you out on not exercising.”

“I meant my legs,” Rainbow Dash retorts, rolling her eyes, “and I’ll show you who’s the strongest!”

The pegasus charges forward at a slow pace, giving Doug plenty of time to react. He drops down to his knees, legs spread wide, as she lowers her head and rams her shoulder into his chest. He grunts as his legs push back, enveloping arms trying to avoid grabbing at her wings as he searches for purchase. Her forelegs wrap around his waist, rear legs digging into the dirt, her bull rush temporarily stymied. Doug folds over, practically laying on top of the mare. His right arm loosely encircles her neck, the left pawing at her hind legs and trying to trip her.

He’s about as strong as me, and his long limbs are really giving him a lot of leverage. Rainbow Dash grunts, twisting her body and trying to drive Doug to the ground, but his experience with Applejack prepared him for it. One leg sticks out, halting the maneuver, the other driving up to knee Rainbow Dash in the chest. It catches her by surprise, knocking the breath out of her, but leaves Doug off balance enough that her followup twist to the other side takes both of them to the ground.

A mad scramble of limbs later and they are back on their feet and hooves, shoulders pressing against each other. Doug still has his arm around Rainbow Dash’s neck, constricting harder and cutting off her airway. She tries to pull her head out, merely dragging the two of them backwards. His left arm leaves her side to lock his right arm in place, content to rest as much of his weight as he can on her back. Rainbow Dash changes tactics, all four legs pushing forwards and upwards as hard as she can. It bowls Doug over; he lands flat on his back, while Rainbow Dash flips end over end. The shock of her back slamming into the ground loosens his grip enough for her to twist her body around. It breaks the chokehold, but his arms still press her head against his chest, both of them breathing heavily.

“So,” Doug says between pants, content with gripping the mare against him while he recovers, “do we call this a draw?”

“I don’t know,” Rainbow Dash says, pausing her struggles to break free, her legs resting against the ground. She smirks, “You getting tired already?”

“I could do this all day,” Doug retorts, both of them chuckling at the bravado. “I guess...” Doug trails off. His arms loosen, and the mare makes no move to escape. “I wanted to know. Why are you being so hostile?”

“Well,” Rainbow Dash says hesitantly, suddenly well aware of their proximity and how easily he could do something to her, wings or no. She rolls to her side so she can look at Doug with both eyes. Not seeing any overt signs she rests her ear against his chest, listening to the rapid beat of his heart. Is he really not that different from us? “Just because you didn’t try anything, that doesn’t mean you didn’t want to. Right?”

“I guess I kind of get that,” Doug says slowly.

“And, it’s hard to gauge that just because you didn’t do anything. Like, if you wanted to, but couldn’t, then how could we tell?” Rainbow Dash sighs, digging a trench into the ground with her hoof. “Sorry, I’m terrible at explaining this stuff.”

“No, I get it,” Doug says, hand coming up to scratch at Rainbow’s mussed up mane. It’s far rougher than Rarity’s, close to Applejack’s but much shorter, though the back colors flow a bit further. Also, how many pegasi, or ponies in general, have this colorful a mane? Most of the others I saw were just one or two. “What matters isn’t how strong you are, but what you do with that strength.”

Rainbow Dash smiles, not just at the words but at the hand pressing into her and teasing out the various colors of her mane. She doesn’t mind the contact, even after their heated confrontation. How many ponies get what I’m trying to say, and don’t belittle me for not knowing the words? “Exactly! But it’s important to have that strength, too. And you don’t want to go messing around with us ponies.” Rainbow Dash grits her teeth at the admission, “Especially unicorns. They cheat.”

“Speak softly and carry a big stick?” Doug shakes his head. Wonder if they have a Roosevelt, too. Maybe he’s a moose. Or a mouse. “I guess an armed society is a polite society.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow Dash says, slightly confused. Her hoof makes swirls in the light hair on his chest, a curious glance around confirming that he does have hair all over his body. It’s just lighter and thinner. Well, in most places. “Except a stick won’t do you much good against an earth pony, much less a pegasus.”

“So you make a bigger stick,” Doug retorts. Or really, really sharp sticks. Or a stick that shoots little sticks.

Rainbow Dash immediately clamps up, the hoof stopping. She cautiously says, “Yeah, I guess you could, but that’s why Princess Celestia enshrined the rules in the first place. And nopony - nocreature - wants to be the one to break them.”

“What are those rules, exactly?” Doug asks, intrigued. Especially because I don’t want to be the one breaking them, either.

“Um, it’s mostly about not using lethal force in the first place, or even stuff that might seriously injure somepony. You can probably find a copy of the Mareva Conventions in the library, but that’s more country on country stuff.” Rainbow Dash looks up to the sky, holding a hoof to her chin in thought. “Rules for warfare, when you can use lethal weapons, that kind of thing.” She motions to the hammer, though after a glance to her shoe she kinda shrugs and flops back down, content again to stare into Doug’s eyes.

“So,” Doug grunts out as Rainbow’s head hits his chest, hands wrapping behind her head to mess with her mane, one making the multicolored trip to her ears. While I would love a discussion on the abilities and fighting methods of the different types of ponies, maybe now isn’t the best time. “Does this mean you’re sorry about what happened earlier?”

Rainbow Dash sighs, her ear playfully flicking away his persistent fingers. “I said I wasn’t going to apologize for my actions earlier, and I meant it. There’s too much that can go wrong with somecreature you know nothing about.”

Doug merely nods, waiting as Rainbow Dash pauses to collect her thoughts.

“But I am sorry I didn’t get to know you earlier.” Rainbow Dash slowly gets to her hooves, eyes still locked on Doug’s.

“I guess that’s an apology I can accept,” Doug says, smiling. He reaches a hand up to stroke Rainbow’s chin.

Rainbow Dash leans down, briefly nuzzling Doug. Before he can react she takes off, chromatic tail fluttering behind her.

Next Chapter: Ch. 19 - Wanderlust Estimated time remaining: 14 Hours, 3 Minutes