My, Daughter, Maree

The sky was going black, even though it was mid-day, winds picking up to higher and higher speeds. Rain

had begun falling lightly, and ponies were fleeing from the center of town. An intense duel was about to begin.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were the only ones still left facing off against Paragon. Paragon's

storm brewed as the tension rose.

"You know Twilight, I'm not gonna lie... I don't feel quite as confident about this plan as I used to..." Rainbow

Dash admitted. "Doesn't seem like we thought this all the way through, to be honest... didn't really have any

contingency plans in place if he started, you know... attacking." Rainbow Dash leaned close by Twilight's ear.

"So, uh... any ideas?"

Twilight had a solemn look on her face. "The plan at this point Dash, is for you to get out of here, and ask that

the citizens of Ponyville leave town and get to safety, while I face off against Paragon." Twilight said, taking a

step towards her opponent.

Dash went wide eyed, and stepped in front of Twilight. "Are you completely altogether in the head, Twilight? I

don't know if you've noticed, but this guy is pretty wickedly powerful when he tries to be. You can't take him

alone." Dash reasoned.

"Against an Alicorn, Dash, it comes down to a matter of magical prowess. You don't stand a chance against him, and

unless Princess Luna or Princess Celestia shows up right about now, I'm the best chance you've got." Twilight

pointed out. "I just need to make sure that everyone else gets out okay, especially you. I know it's hard for you

to understand, but you can't think of it as just being your life anymore. You have a child, and you have a duty to

ensure that you are there for her. So, get going and get everyone, including her, out of here!" Twilight stepped

around Rainbow Dash and took a few more steps toward Paragon. Rainbow Dash could only look on as her friend

prepared herself for a fight she knew she couldn't win. Dash had her orders, but hated every inch of them.

I'll come back for you Twilight, I promise. And Dash took off.

Paragon and Twilight watched each other for a few seconds, the suspense building rapidly.

"hm hm hm hm, looks like it's just the two of us now, Miss-" Paragon paused for a moment to think. "Come to think

of it, we haven't yet been properly introduced. You know who I am. And you are?"

"Twilight Sparkle." Twilight announced proudly. "I am Princess Celestia's finest pupil, and the younger sister of

Canterlot's Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor, as well as sister-in-law of the heir apparent to the throne of

Equestria." Twilight smiled. "As for my day job, I'm a librarian."

Paragon laughed out loud, "Oh well, now I'm scared! Lo and behold, I am to face off against a super-librarian!

Surely it shall be the most intense battle of my life!" Paragon mused, laughing to himself. "Well then, librarian,

student of Celestia, let's see what you've got!" Paragon's horn flared with energy, and suddenly the winds picked

up with tremendous force, blowing directly in Twilight's direction. Caught off guard, Twilight was swept off her

feet, and was knocked back.

Twilight hadn't even gotten back on her feet yet when Paragon attacked again, now summoning a whirlwind

laced with various twigs and forest debris and throwing in her direction. Twilight was only narrowly able to avoid

this, dodge-rolling to the side. She tried to retaliate, firing a bolt of energy at him from her horn, but he

avoided it by spreading his wings and simply allowing his own wind to carry him upwards, no flapping necessary.

Paragon shook his head, amused, but not impressed. ""I'm going to enjoy playing with you. You'll be most...

entertaining."

Rainbow Dash was leading a crowd of people away, floating overhead, when she encountered Applejack and

Fluttershy resisting the flow. She landed to greet them.

"Dash, what in tarnation is goin' on? Where's everypony runnin' to? And where'd all this stormy weather come

from?" Applejack asked in a fluster.

"Applejack, Fluttershy, you need to go help Twilight right now!" Dash demanded.

Fluttershy was confused. "What are you talking about, Dash? What's going on?"

"It's Paragon, he's a grade A psychopath, and he's fighting with Twilight! She can't do it on her own, you gotta

help her! She's in front of Town Hall, go quick! I'll join up with you as soon as I can!" Dash took off, and

without another word, Applejack and Fluttershy rushed to Twilight's aid.

Twilight meanwhile, was doing her best to defend herself against Paragon's onslaught, dodging and

dissolving whatever spells she could, taking occasional shots back at him with no success. Paragon's endurance

seemed endless; while Twilight grew more tired all the time, Paragon was unphased. In fact, he seemed to enjoy

himself. After a few more attacks, which Twilight barely managed to avoid, Paragon took a break to comment on the

entertainment before him.

"Hm hm hm, you're deceptively spry for a bookworm, Miss Sparkle. You've kept up so far. You're much more fun to

play with than that Rainbow Dash character. At least you can fight back when I get serious." He admitted. "Of

course, you must realize you don't stand a chance in all the world of stopping me. Here I am, still merely toying

with you, not even winded, and you look like you might pass out any moment now!" Paragon laughed a little. It was

true, Twilight was panting heavily. The fight had only been on for a few minutes, but she wasn't used to using

magic offensively. It was very intense, and she knew now that if this pattern continued, she would lose. She fired

yet another bolt of energy, but it was deflected off a barrier Paragon created around him. Twilight slumped in

defeat. He was too strong.

"You know, I've always thought these 'energy bolts' were an awfully boring way to fight. I prefer to make

something of my techniques; whirlwinds, typhoons, tornadoes, rain, lightning... it keeps things fresh and

interesting." Paragon commented offhandedly. "For example, I've found that rain itself is universally useless in

a fight. however, it is a key ingredient to one of my all time favorite tools in battle: mud." Twilight

immediately looked to her feet, to see them buried underneath a layer of mud. She attempted to struggled free, but

she only sunk deeper. Paragon continued, slowly walking towards Twilight. "It's durable, malleable, versatile,

plentiful... as long as it stays off me, it's a tremendously useful substance." Twilight continued to struggle,

and then remembered that she didn't have to; hoping to catch Paragon off guard, she fired another shot at him from

a much closer range. Unfortunately, an large mound of mud rose up to block it, and Paragon continued to walk

without breaking stride. He continued talking as though he hadn't noticed the attack. "Besides, dirt only deserves

to be buried in more dirt." He was now right up beside Twilight. "You've put up an admirable effort really. You

ought to be proud. I almost respect you. You are the stone amongst the dirt." He leaned right into Twilight's

face, just inches away. "Compared to you, however, I am a diamond." Twilight took her chance, and instinctively

jabbed him in the left eye with her horn.

Paragon reeled at the sudden pain, stepping backwards and holding his left eye. His focus was shaken just

enough for Twilight to escape the mud trap, and she ran for cover behind a nearby building. She stayed there,

catching her breath, when she was met suddenly by Applejack and Fluttershy, both with looks of concern of their

faces.

Fluttershy spoke first. "Oh dear, Twilight, are you alright? You look terrible.." She said with concern.

"We heard about Paragon. So, where is he?" Applejack asked.

Twilight, still out of breath, vaguely motioned behind her with her head. "He's disoriented right now, but that'll

only last a few more seconds. He's just too strong for me." She admitted.

"Well that's what we're here for! We're gonna help ya beat this bad boy!" Applejack declared. "Just tell us what

to do!" Fluttershy nodded in agreement.

"Guys, I appreciate it, but he's too much even for all three of us. There's only one thing I can think of that

might work, but I wouldn't exactly call it reliable..." Twilight said.

"What is it?" Asked Fluttershy. "If there's any hope, any at all, we should try it at least!"

Twilight, finally having caught hr breath, sighed. "I know a spell that can put out a Magical Negation Field for

several minutes. It's a very powerful, high level spell that disables all magic equal to or less powerful than the

level of magic that the field is given, including that of the user's. Problem is, I'm a little low on magic right

now, and if I'm going to make this even remotely effective against him, I need to charge it. And in order to

charge it properly, I would need you two to distract him for me." Twilight explained.

"Well, how long would you need?" Applejack asked.

Twilight considered for a moment. "At least 100 seconds." She said.

"100 seconds up against him? That seems awfully long..." Fluttershy said. Just then, Paragon rounded the corner,

fixing Twilight with a deadly glare, his left eye squinting, a streak of blood leading down from his eye all the

way down his face. He snarled very angrily, and began to walk towards her menacingly.

Applejack stood in front of Twilight, Fluttershy following, but with less confidence. "Look, we'll getcha as much

time as we can get ya. Just charge that spell with everything you got!" Applejack said. Twilight began to prepare

the spell.

Pinkie Pie looked out at the gloomy weather outside. She didn't particularly like rain. It made her hair

go flat. Maree was taking a nap in her room. The weather must have done it to her; she didn't sleep during the day

very often anymore. She felt bored; thought about eating. But, she didn't feel like making food. Maybe she'd just

have some cereal. And some juice. She walked over to the cupboard to find the box of cereal. It was empty. Pinkie

sighed. That put a damper on her mood. It was no fun feeling sad. Come to think of it, she couldn't really put her

hoof on exactly why she felt so sad. She didn't like rain, that was one thing, but she had no real reason to be

feeling down. She felt this persistent feeling that there was something badly amiss. Something wasn't right.

Specifically... like something bad was going to happen. She looked at the clock, and realized that Rainbow Dash

had been out a lot longer than she had expected her to be. And this rain would probably give her problems. She sat

down at stared out the window again. What's a Mare to do in lousy weather like this, all by herself, with a

missing friend and nothing to do? Then she saw them. Hundreds of them. Ponies started running right across her

field of view, all panicked and clearly running from something rather than to something. Pinkie immediately

stepped outside and stopped one of them to ask what was going on.

"Some crazy Alicorn is causing this storm and is attacking us! We're all running to safety!"

"Who, though? What was his name?" Pinkie asked.

"I don't know! Some big, yellow stallion! Hey, you better get to safety too!" And he ran off.

A big yellow stallion? It sounded like Paragon. Wait, he was an Alicorn? And Dash was going to challenge him! What

if he got angry, what if he wanted to get even? She wouldn't stand a chance! Pinkie looked back at Dash's house.

Stay safe, Maree. And she ran towards the center of town.

Applejack charged at Paragon, Fluttershy following close behind. Rather than make any attempt to get out

of the way or cast a spell, Paragon simply stood his ground. With sound timing, he hopped up onto his back legs as

Applejack got close to him, and before Applejack could take evasive action, he came down and struck her hard in

the side of the face, knocking her down. Fluttershy, seeing her friend take that hit, came skidding to a halt next

to Paragon, who swatted her away with a single swipe of his mighty wing. Both of her friends already down, Twilight

became quite worried.

"I was hoping that might last a little longer.." She muttered to herself. She still needed 92 seconds, and she

wasn't going to get that judging by the look in Paragon's eye as he approached her, backing her into a corner. He

gradually started to hover a few feet over the ground, attempting to impose on Twilight even more.

"Well, you've managed to blind me on one eye. That's well deserved, I was careless. But now, Miss Sparkle, you'll

be getting an extra special death..." Paragon's horn began to glow a very ominous, dark green glow. "Be on your

way now... to oblivion!"

"HEY PARAGON!" Paragon looked around, confused. "INCOMIIIIIIIIIIING!!!" Paragon looked up and behind just in time

to see Rainbow Dash tackle him with full force, hooves first, knocking the wind clear out of him and knocking him

right out of the sky. Paragon landed with a sound thud, and took several seconds to recover, as Dash hovered over

head. When he was getting back to his feet, Dash dove again for another tackle. This time, Paragon was able to

evade, as he did with the next couple attempts.

"You know, I've been wanting to do that for a long time now, and it is SO satisfying to finally pull it off!" Dash

boasted, flying circles overhead. Paragon, who was initially aflame with rage, suddenly calmed down, even smiled a

little.

"You know, we never completed that diving lesson." He said. "It's not enough that you simply drop; you must be

certain that you also remain absolutely STILL. Allow me to DEMONSTRATE!" His horn began to glow again. Rainbow

Dash's heart skipped a beat as a particularly loud rumbling of thunder crackled across the sky. Nothing could have

prevented what happened next.

A single lightning bolt came tearing out of the sky, traveling at 186 000 miles per second; the legendary

speed of light after which is was named; and struck Rainbow Dash dead-square in the back. Without so much as a

yelp of pain or surprised, Rainbow Dash plummeted from the sky and into the ground, where she lay in a crumpled,

motionless pile.