//------------------------------//
// Episode 5: Gear Up 
// Story: EoH Evolution: Season 2 
// by Bahamut0 
//------------------------------//

Shadow Thunder could barely contain himself as he held his Duelist Arm in a ready position. I can't believe it! My second day here and I'm already getting in training with the Elements of Heroism! This is awesome! Shadow bolted out the door, and flew towards the field on the outskirts of Unityville that Burst Stream had selected for their training to take place. "I'm a little bit early, but that shouldn't be a problem!" 

About ten minutes later the other Elements of Heroism arrived at the field and spotted Shadow. "Yo Shadow!" Dark Ice called out. "Hope we didn't keep you waiting little bro."

"Nah!" Shadow said as he sprung to his feet! "So who's gonna gauge how good I am?"

Burst Stream stepped forward, and drew out his sword. "That'd be me. Show me what you've got!"

"HERE I COME!" Shadow shouted as he flew at Burst! However, he'd put too much speed into his flight and missed Burst! "Whoops!" Shadow skidded to a halt, but was met with the edge of Burst's blade. "Guess I overshot it, huh?"

Burst shrugged. "You seem to know about half of your weapon's capabilities. But spears aren't good just for charging and lancing. They also make good defensive weapons." Burst backed away slightly, and got into a fighting stance. "I'm going to come at you. When I do, try to block one of my swings with your spear. Tell me when you're ready."

"Okay." Shadow took a deep breath. "Alright! Come at me!" Burst Stream charged at Shadow and swung at him, but Shadow blocked the balde by raising his spear! "You weren't kidding! But I bet you're gonna regret helping me get better at this thing!"

Burst chuckled. "Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that." He whipped out one of his blasters, and fired at Shadow! Knocking him back and leaving minor scorch marks. "Don't worry. The Duelist Arms can only seriously harm evil entities. That's why you're only a little roughed up. But that's no excuse for you just to tank damage."

"I'll say. . ." Shadow groaned as he propped himself up with his spear. "That blast still hit me pretty hard."

Burst smiled. "Glad to see you've learned your lesson. Now then. Each of us is going to split up into teams for a free-for-all spar. Shadow? You don't mind being put together with your brothers, do you?"

"Nope!" Shadow answered. "Besides, I might finally get to kick their butts!"

Ace chuckled at hearing this. "We'll see about that little brother."

"Come at me bro!" Ice said as he readied his claymore. The three brothers then charged at each other! Ice swung at Shadow, but Shadow leaped over the swing and jabbed his spear at Ice! However, this left Shadow open to a shield bash from Ace!

"Gotta mind your surroundings Shadow." Ace stated as he let Shadow recover. "Chances are that some of our future enemies aren't going to play fair. So make sure to keep a look out for possible angles of their attacks." And with that, the three continued their sparring. Each of their styles seemed to counter the other. Ace's was well-balanced, but he lacked the power of Ice's claymore or the reach of Shadow's spear. Ice's claymore was large and powerful, but it could also be slow with its swings. Whereas Shadow specialized in speed and reach but lacked power.

But as the brothers continued their rock-paper-scissors of melee weapons, Burst, Inferno, and Ty's clash was cut short when a stray blast of magic flew right past them! "What the-?!" Inferno turned in the direction of the blast, and saw Twilight Sparkle giving him a nervous smile. "Twilight? What are you and the girls doing here?"

"Well Fluttershy and Rarity told me about the weapons training you guys do so much." Twilight answered with a smile. "So we figured that we have our own weapons now, you could help train us. That way we can help you guys out in a pinch if you need some extra fighters on hand."

Inferno shot a nervous look at the girls. "Well, if you're all sure about this." He then looked to Burst." Well Burst? What's your decision?"

"Like I told Shadow. We might need all the help we can get. Besides," Burst then looked to Twilight, and smirked. "Let's see how Twilight handles under the kind of pressure we deal with."

Inferno smiled. "Go nuts dude. I'll be helping Rarity." Inferno walked over to Rarity. "Just think of this as a really aggressive dance."

"Then I hope you don't mind me leading, darling." Rarity said with a giggle as she unfolded her steel fan and drew her rapier. "Shall we dance then?"

Inferno smirked. "It'd be my honor." The two crossed blades, and proceeded to spar with one another. Rarity's strikes were swift and graceful. She even managed to deflect a shot from Inferno's blaster with her fan! She even proved to be a match with him in swordplay! 

"For someone who isn't used to weapons, your sword suits you pretty well." Inferno remarked as he and Rarity locked blades. "It certainly looks like a weapon fit for a lady."

Rarity giggled. "True enough darling. A rapier is known for its elegant design. But it also has quite the edge, and is known for great precision. I guess my eye for fine detail only supplements my affinity for it." Rarity soon broke off their clash, and readied her fan. "But you'll have to earn getting up close with me now." She then fired gem shards as she swung her fan!

Inferno took to the air to dodge the shards and hovered as he advanced on Rarity! Their spar looking more like a dance with how their movements flowed.

Fluttershy looked over to Rainbow Dash. "Um, Rainbow Dash? Don't you want to join in with the training?"

"Nah." Rainbow Dash said as she shook her head. "I'm waiting for Steel to come back! When he's back after training, I'm gonna see what my boomerang's capable of! Until then? I'll just hang back here."

Pinkie then scooted over to Rainbow Dash. "And I'll be showing off my newfound yo-yo skills!" She then set to work demonstrating her skill with her Harmony Keeper. Giving Rainbow Dash an excellent distraction.

"Oh. Well, I'll just go see what's up with Ty and Applejack so far. If that's okay with everyone." Fluttershy walked over to where Tyrannus Rex and Applejack were sparring. Applejack was firing bolts from her twin crossbows while Tyrannus shot a blast of thunder from his cannon. 

"Guess we're the tanks for our teams, huh?" Tyrannus said with an exhausted smile.

Applejack chuckled. "We sure are sugarcube. Heck, Ah didn't expect to get in a workout this intense today. Your Duelist Arms might not've done a number on me, but they sure hit hard."

"Oh! Let me take care of that!" Fluttershy said as she raised her staff. A green glow came out of the ornament at the top, and healed Applejack and Tyrannus. "I'll just be on the sidelines if anyone needs healing."

Tyrannus smiled as he kissed Fluttershy. "You're always watching over me, my shy little angel."

"Only because I want to keep you safe too." Fluttershy said with a blush as she fluttered over back to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie. Pinkie was busy scribbling down her friends relationships in a notebook.

Meanwhile, Burst had gotten into a fighting stance while Twilight stood completely still. Okay Twilight. Twilight thought to herself. You've seen him fight. He mainly uses pure strength and opens up with a melee attack. I just need to-?! Twilight blinked in confusion when Burst teleported with his magic, and reappeared right in front of her! Firing a charge shot that knocked Twilight back! Okay. . . THAT'S new. "Looks like you've decided to change up how you open. But you're not the only one with tricks up your sleeve!" Twilight focused her magic through her magician's rod, and fired a beam of magic right at Burst!

"We'll see about that." Burst Stream said with a smirk as he cast a shield spell around himself! Blocking Twilight's magic blast! "Since we're whipping out our magic, why not settle this with a spell clash?"

Twilight smiled knowingly. "You want settle this DBZ style, don't you?"

"Hey. I can't help it. When I see the chance for a reference, I take it." Burst said with a shrug. "Now bring out your strongest blast!" Twilight was preparing to fire her spell from her hands, but paused as she considered which spell she should bring out. Burst noticed this, and rolled his eyes as his hands were engulfed in the brilliant blue aura of his magic. He then fired a blast that flew right next to Twilight! Snapping her out of her thoughts.

"What was that?!" Twilight snapped! "You almost hit me!"

Burst sighed. "I wasn't aiming at you at all. But why did you stall back there?"

"Well, I had to think of the best spell for the job." Twilight answered. "I was taking our situation into account, and I-"

Burst raised his hand for silence. "Twilight. Have you ever been in an actual fight?"

"Uh, no?" Twilight answered nervously. "Is that a problem?"

"Yes, and no." Burst replied with a sigh. "Fighting should be saved as a last resort to solve problems. But when you do fight, you can't always rely on a set strategy. Insteading of thinking, feel out the fight. Trust your instincts. Like Steel said, your problem is that you're too logical Twilight." He then booped her on the nose. "You're thinking WAY too much."

Twilight frowned. "Well can't you just teach me how to follow my instincts?"

Burst laughed at what Twilight proposed. "Ha ha ha! Oh, Twilight. Instinct can't be taught! It's something you feel.  For example. . . DODGE!" Burst swung at Twilight, and she ducked to avoid it! "You see? You felt that you should dodge, and you did it. Remember. Sometimes you need to think less, and feel more."

Twilight had a puzzled look on her face. "Since when am I learning stuff from you and the guys?"

"Since Steel chewed you out for falling for Discord's tricks." Burst said with a shrug. "But no sense worrying about what's in the past. C'mon. Let's head back. Training's over for today." However, as the two sets of elements headed back to Unityville, a lone figure watched their departure from the fields. The changeling drone then buzzed away. He had information for his queen.