NOIRE POV

As Windy showed us the place where we would be training for the next 48 hours, the rest of us shared a momentary glance at each other, and relented, deciding to just go along with this. The cold climate and large space was a decent place for us to push ourselves. "As for how we're doing this, I'll be fighting Noire deeper in the cave. We still need to finish what we started. Burning can take on Tidal. Sound good?"

"Of course not. Let's go Burning," Tidal wasted no time in drawing her sword and striking at Burning's chest as Windy and I ventured deeper into the cave. Windy had already split us up to pair both me and Burning with our worst match ups. If being in hot environments weakened her, then Tidal could easily counter Burning's fire in the cold and Windy's fighting style was the one I understood the least, as well as his domination over the air making close range near impossible. After a two minute jog, another arena was found, darker than the last. Windy flew into the center, pulling out his bow. His arrogant smile was an invitation to attack him. I summoned my sword and entered the ring. There was silence throughout the cave, save for the dripping of water, drawing my attention for a split second. Windy took advantage of the distraction, throwing a dagger at my head. I managed the catch it in my hand, but was caught off-guard by its dull blade, and was swept off my feet by a wind arrow behind my legs, making me fall forward. Before he could shoot another arrow at my back, I teleported away, reappearing in the air. Strangely enough, I did not move as high as I wanted to.

"That was another defeat, Noire." Windy met me face-to-face in the air "If this was a real fight, you would have died already. Your large amount of magic may be able to defend you, but if you are not constantly perceiving your surroundings properly-" An arrow appeared out of nowhere and pierced my left shoulder, paralyzing it "-you will not live long enough to regret it." I summoned Phantom Crown to compensate for the lost use of my arm and chased Windy, who was flying around , shooting arrow after arrow "You may be a code avatar, but your an intermediate at best. With your code, all us generals could achieve way more than you." I felt sweat dripping over my furrowed brow as I repeatedly missed Windy "Prove to me that your victories weren't just flukes, that you can win with skill, not power, or else,"

"Or else what!?" I asked as I grew exhausted.

"Or else you're not coming to the Griffin Empire with us. You'll stay here. Gillahaut cannot be beaten with just power,"

NOIRE POV, YESTERDAY

We watched as the griffon woke from his momentary slumber. Through healing magic, we managed to get him well enough to explain more thoroughly.

"The Griffin Empire is currently in the middle of a civil war. Emperor Gillahaut said he has grown tired of the ponies and planned to declare war before receiving the invite to your gala. He came only out of curiosity. Currently, his son, Gilgamesh, has formed a resistance to overthrow him before that. He has asked me to send you this letter to plead with you to help in his endeavor. Please help him, he wishes to end this before even more of our kind are slaughtered in the crossfire." He let out a throaty cough and laid back in his bed.

"Well this couldn't have come at a better time," I said "Should we go to assist?"

Luna finished reading through the contents of the letter, by Gilgamesh's own hand "From this letter, it sounds like the resistance has set up base near Griffonstone, two days by air ship if we bring forces from both kingdoms. If this is true the resulting war would lead to several casualties to both sides. The prince is wise to want to avoid this. We should at least meet them."

Celestia nodded and stood "Do we all agree?" Everybody agreed, nodding their head "Then Luna, you will lead our army to Griffonstone to meet with Prince Gilgamesh" She turned to Cadance and I " Noire, you and the generals will go with your army as well,"

"I'm going as well," Cadance interjected. Her aunt looked at her with an expression of both defiance and worry "Aunty, I cannot stand by and watch my ponies fight for me anymore. I have to at least be there to represent my nation. We will organize our defenses amongst ourselves." Celestia could not deter Cadance, relenting to her niece's wish.

"Very well. We will go in three days time!"

"STOP GETTING DISTRACTED!" Another arrow hit me square in the forehead, causing me to lose control of my levitation, and crash into the ground. I struggled to stand as I looked up at the general, staring at me intensely. My former impression of the pegasus was long gone, replaced by a battle hardened archer, who was skilled enough to inspire a whole new form of soldier in the Crystal Empire.

"How is he doing this" I thought as I blocked a bazooka arrow from behind "He barely draws his bow and yet arrows seem to appear from thin air!" Another arrow appeared above me, which I leaped away from before it exploded "Thin air... It couldn't be" another arrow flies "It's impossible... isn't it?" another arrow appears, grazing my cheek, while another hits my right leg, paralyzing it "Did I walk into a magic zone!?" By the time I realized it, I was already on my knees watching Windy finally pull his bow, but the arrow didn't appear in the bow, instead the biggest one I had seen Windy make hovered above my head. "I finally get it. Your bow uses your own magic to use for spells, similar to a unicorn's magic. You laced this entire arena with your magic with all those wind arrows to create your own magic zone." Windy smiled, then he laughed.

"Bingo, my friend. My magic zone, Assault Wind Jail, and my bow, Wings of Boreas, allow me to fire arrows anywhere I please and limit the magical abilities of my opponents, but explaining won't help you now. Imma knock you out for a few hours before we actually start training," I could see all his fingers let go, and the gigantic arrow to fly towards me. I couldn't run with a paralyzed leg, and wasn't able to teleport far enough to escape the blast radius.

"Don't worry. You will see my skill before we leave this cave."

BURNING POV

A loud crashing sound rang through the cave, and could feel the cold wind from deep inside the chamber where Windy was fighting "So he finally used his Zephyr Comet."

"Focus on the fight!" I just barely blocked another strike at my chest by Tidal's sword, but she released a blast of water from the tip which pushed me back several feet, nearly knocking me into the spiked borders. I re-oriented myself as and threw a snake whip towards her "Too slow!" she coated her blade with water and cut the attack in half, before charging at me once again. As I tried to block her strike, I felt the wet sensation around my legs become a freezing cold as ice began to crawl up my legs, stopping at my knees. Tidal made a quick swipe at my chest with a horizontal slash. "I really am the worst match up for you, aren't I, Burning," she teased as she pointed her blade at my neck "You're lucky I was forced to dull my strikes to not kill you. However, I'm still looking for a fight, not I one-sided beatdown like Windy's probably giving Noire, so stopping blocking and hit me already!" Tidal began assaulting me with slash after slash before sliding backwards and creating a water trident with her sword at the head, throwing it at me "GRAND TIDE'S TRIDENT!"

I raised my arms to defend myself, however a flashing memory of my master reminded me. I coiled my fist back and struck the trident head on, no flames used at all. The impact was enough to stop the attack, causing Tidal to call her sword back to her "These fists were made to protect others, not myself. Blocking isn't an option any more." I broke the icy grip at my feet and flash-stepped in front of the general, throwing a right hook at her face. The impact sent a shockwave of fire ringing throughout the arena, melting even more of the ice. However, I did not relent, following up with a left hook, creating the same effect. "Burning Fist: Dog" I threw both fists at her gut, but stopped just before impact. I stood back and let Tidal stumble back a bit before falling on her haunches.

"You stopped." She placed a hand on her stomach "Don't remember telling you about this thing inside me."

I knelt down in front of her "Curdle had informed us all about it. I believe it would highly advised against to strike a pregnant mare." I smiled at her, as she groaned and gripped the sides of her ears, out of both pain or irritation.

"Ugh, don't even. It makes me sound old. Let's also remember the fact that this thing is killing me."

"But when your 'thing' out, what are you going to do. Regardless of it's conception, it is still a foal, a life. Will you turn it away?" Tidal couldn't respond to that at that moment. How could she have? Less than a month ago, she was declared 'pregnant' with a changeling foal that was killing her.

"I couldn't tell you a month ago, and I sure as hell can't say now. I at least know I can't go to Griffonstone. Doctor's orders," she huffed as she lied on the cold surface "Noire's screwed."

"Ye of little faith."

NOIRE POV

As I drifted through the darkness of unconsciousness, I once again met with Faust. I did not see her, but I could feel her presence "Hey."

"Yes, hey indeed. I see your having a rough time."

"His level of experience is way beyond mine. I've been fighting for a little over a year. Windy's fought his whole life. He's managed to complete a magic zone, something I've only seen Grim do before."

"Magic zones are high level spells for unicorn's, yet a pegasus achieving it, even if through magic equipment, is very impressive. However, all magic zones can be overcome through destroying their circles or incapacitating their users. One requiring power, the other skill." I immediately caught onto what she was saying. Windy wanted me to not resolve this by simply overpowering him, which I could've done easily, but use my combat knowledge. "What can I do though? He still has the advantage over me in technique, and I can't tell where his arrows will appear." Faust came into view and held my face.

"That's why you have to think with what my daughter has taught you, but in your own way. Stop using magic and use your code." As I regained consciousness, I could feel the magic within me fade away.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead~" Windy sang as I rose from my light stupor "Well, its about midnight, which means you can make up for all the time you spent unconscious practicing!" I turned my head in confusion "To gain my approval to go to Griffonstone, where the strongest fighters can be found, you must defend against 50 of my arrows. Do that, and you can come with me." I looked at him incredulously, wondering he saw in my shitty performance a few hours ago that made him think I could defend against a fraction of that.

"Sounds impossible-"

"Which makes it perfect for you, since you basically are the most impossible thing that exists here right now. Now no complaining!" Windy flew high above me and readied his bow. I got on my feet and tried to summon Gardnablade, only to find the sword unresponsive.

"Christ is Windy working with Faust or something!? I can't use magic anymore?" I quickly cut through a bazooka arrow, however I was now aware of the magic that quickly surrounded the area. I decide to run around to make it harder for him to summon arrows in my immediate area. It worked for about one other arrow before he created multiple around me, and sent me flying. "Just as hard as I thought," I said to myself as I got into my stance again. I had to stand still to properly read the location of the arrows. Windy resumed silently by shooting an arrow. I successfully blocked it, and another which appeared to my left. That was when I began to notice tiny changes in the air. As he fired an arrow, there was a small delay where wind had to accumulate to form and fire arrows. I began to get overconfident as I blocked three more arrows, causing the arrow from overhead to knock me off my feet "It's still too fast!" I thought as a concussive arrow hit me in the forehead. We started again, however I closed my eyes. accepting that seeing the arrows weren't going to help. Hearing or feeling them wouldn't either. "Stop being childish, Noire. You've focused on seeing his shots when I should have been focusing on-" I blocked an arrow aimed at my head "-was the magic lines throughout this entire magic zone." I was able to feel the strings of magic that extended from overhead, probably from the bow, all around me in the form of a spherical cage. Four pulses resounded, meaning four arrows. I blocked one aimed at my right arm, right leg, chest, and left arm successfully.

"Gatling Arrows!" More arrows fired rapidly, leaving me unable to distinguish the order they were going to hit. I backed away from where I stood and dodged what I could now feel as ten consecutive shots. "You correct yourself quickly, but how will you dodge when the attack's this large?" He prepared another Zephyr Comet, causing all of the magic lines to pulse violently. There was no escaping this one. As I felt the large arrow fly towards me, I rose my sword horizontally in an attempt to block the attack. Surprisingly, it worked, telling me the arrow was more similar to a bomb. However, the attack wasn't dissipating, instead I could feel it weighing down on me.

"If the code can allow me to see and manipulate the flow of magic, maybe I can reverse the flow. It has to be all at once, one slip-up and this will blow up." I focused on every single thread connecting the attack to its user, Imagining the same pulses that resounded before it fired. With a yell, I batted the attack away, but not directly back to Windy, sending it into a nearby wall. The explosion resulted in the whole cave shaking from the impact. "Block out all other information. Sight, sound, feeling. Just focus on the magic." I closed not only my eyes, but every sensation I could. Even the lines began to fade. The next minute felt like a blur, as pulses rang through the emptiness, and thought became a nuisance. In one last movement, I made an upward slash, opening my eyes to see a cave littered with holes and an exhausted Windy descending to the ground.

"Faust, that was some quick growth. You didn't even use any weapon transformations-," he said, panting and sweating like he had ran a marathon "-but you still need to work on air combat. Something you'll get used to when you do it more."

"I guess I had the skills all along. I was just too focused on using more powerful magic. Does this mean I pass?" Windy patted me on the back as we headed up to the entrance where Tidal and Burning were training.

"With flying colors!"

"..."

BURNING POV

After our warm-up, we began training to control my magic better, which amounted to just shooting flames at an ice wall. "You're getting impatient. Take time to build up your magic," Tidal advised. I took a moment to breathe, focusing on my fist and threw another punch, however, while the impact was stronger than the other blanks, it was still not on the level that I achieved last time.

"Why is it still so hard?" I said, looking and my shaking hands, sore from effort "I was able to blast a hole through a barrier and solid concrete, but now I can't even make a dent in ice."

"It just happens. Believe me, when I first tried my hydromancy, I nearly flooded my mother's house. After I got actual training, it got significantly weaker. I believe a theorist said when a magic user unlocks their abilities, it all gets released with no restraint. After they gain control, it becomes weaker, and they have to train even harder to reach that same with the control they currently have. 'The Theory of Ascension' it was called."

"Power and control. A good union, but difficult to achieve to the same degree." I sat down for a break when I saw Windy and Noire emerge from the depths "Evening, you two. I take your training is going well."

"Just perfectly! Noire here is a quick learner. How about you?"

"I'm making progress on the precision, but the force is still lacking. I could hardly pierce through armor with the level it is at. Even after I pour all of my energy into my fist, it just feels wasted."

Noire put his hand on his chin, thinking over it for a moment "What if you just don't channel it?" he said.

"...What?" we all said.

"Well from the little I know of CQC, you're supposed to throw your whole body into your attacks, not just a single part. In theory, if you pour all of your energy into a single place the magic still won't hit as hard. Your not accumulating enough momentum compared to the rest of your body."

Tidal chimed in "I think I understand. If you throw a punch with magic spread through your entire body, the magic will just move along with the kinetic energy. It does sound good on paper."

"Using all off my magic paths will be incredibly strenuous, though." I countered.

"What you afraid?" Windy added "It's basically your new ultimate move. It's supposed to tucker you out. It won't hurt to try."

"From how Burning phrased, it most likely will," Noire corrected "Still worth it."

I relented, thinking that the crazy option was often the best way to go. I readied my fist, charging not just it but my whole body with magic. "I didn't think I was like the others, but now I see that to be as reckless as them to get as strong! Don't think about condensing it, just do it!" I threw my whole fist into the wall, unleashing a flaming bullet shaped like a bird's head. It strikes the ice wall, smashing it to pieces. It was not on the level it was when I first used it still, but it was a huge leap in progress. I exhale, looing at the increase in damage "It seems your craziness has rubbed off on me. Thank you," I said, bowing to all three of you.

"It that how he really sees us?" Windy asked.

"I wouldn't go that far..." Noire said to himself. We all laughed as we took a much needed break. However, we were alerted by a tremendous magical presence and a rush, freezing wind, surrounding us in thick fog. A piercing roar parted the fog, revealing a large lion with a white and dark blue mane. We looked upon its gigantic form with awe, as we had never seen or heard of this beast living in the icy wastelands before.

"Ye all... hath trespassed on my domain... and disturbed my slumber. Prepare yourselves... FOR BATTLE!"

Author's Note

Summer is out so maybe adding a ice lion to my story will cool me down
I left you all waiting long enough I will be putting some more effort into the story over the summer while I get the books for my second year.