Chapter 9
"C'mon you four! I know you can do better than this! Twilight, focus fire! Keep a steady flow of spells, and don't think. Feel what needs to be cast and just DO. Applejack, swing the hammer from side-to-side and use the momentum for follow-through attacks! Rainbow! I said hit-and-run! MOVE! Pinkie! I- what in the name of Uriel Septim are you doing?"
"I'm leveling up silly!" The pink mare returned to staring at the sky, an inquiring look on her face. "Hmm... now let's see... should I get 'big blast' for my cannon, or 'detect dragon' for my Pinkie-sense?" You just blinked a few times in confusion, and went back to training the others.
They were all doing rather well, and you were genuinely impressed by their progress over the last few hours. Though they weren't accustomed to this lifestyle yet, and it was nearing noon. Twilight had learned the spells you had given her, flames and ice-spike, with relative ease. She had been practicing them all day, and had them nearly mastered. Applejack seemed to have gotten used to the weight of her weapon and armor, though she was still very slow on her follow-up attacks. Rainbow was being brash and staying too close to her target for far too long, but was at least agile and was able to use the knives to great effect. Pinkie was being Pinkie, and Rarity and Fluttershy were cheering them all on from their log. You could tell they were all tired and hungry... save Pinkie Pie anyways.
"Alright everyone," you cried out, gaining their attention. "Why don't you all take a break and get some lunch while I make reparations to the training grounds." They all gave an audible sigh of relief, and started working their way back to the camp. They were all talking about something, likely the training, but you weren't really listening. You started to walk over to the training dummies to inspect their condition.
The ones Twilight were working over had been scorched, frozen, and any combination therein. Pinkie's were covered in confetti and frosting. Frosting that seemed to be eating through the iron armor you had placed on them... What in the world? You leaned in a took a brief whiff of the 'frosting' to find that it smelled of acid. By the nine, where is that creature from? You just shook your head dejectedly and moved on. Applejack's dummies were crushed rather well, though it was a bit scattered. Not that it mattered, she was meant to be taking hits, not dealing them out. Rainbow seemed to get the idea though, and had gone for chinks and weak spots on the armor. She knew she wouldn't get through it, but she could get around it with great ease, and effect.
You smiled, they seemed to be doing well, and only a few more hours of training would be required before they were ready to go out and fight without being killed. You cast a few spells of your own and brought everything back to the way it had been this morning, and while this nearly depleted your mana stores, it was nothing a few potions couldn't fix. You nodded at the field, and moved back to the camp after the others, your stomach groaning in protest.
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As you neared the camp, you once again picked out the sounds of talking and laughter. You could see a small column of smoke through the trees, from the cooking fire no doubt, and made your way towards it. Pushing some foliage out of the way, you made it to the small clearing that the camp was set up in, seeing all but Rarity sitting on logs around the fire, the posh mare on a velvet pillow instead. You chuckled lightly to yourself and walked over, sitting beside Twilight.
"-an' Ah tolled Big Mac 'Brother, iffin' you ever do that again, Ah'm gonna kick your flank all the way back to Appaloosa to apologize to Breaburn yerself!'" The girls bust out in riotous laughter at the closing of Applejack's joke. You even smiled yourself at the mental image it gave you. While you had never actually seen her brother, Applejack had described him to you, so you got a rough idea of what that would look like.
"Oh, hey J'Dagna," Twilight said, noticing you beside her. "Got the course fixed already?"
"I do," you nodded. "I know a bit of powerful magic myself Twilight, at least by my world's standards. I see you use telekinesis all the time. But that's besides the point," you turned to the rest as you spoke. "I took a look at all of your training dummies, and I must say I'm quite impressed. Especially with you Rainbow Dash, I had not figured you'd able to figure out to go for weak spots on your own."
"Tha- hey wait a minute!"
"Twilight, you seemed to have my spells mastered, and you are using them to very good effect. Applejack, you have a good feel for your weapon, and while aiming for the head and similar weak spots wouldn't hurt our fights, it is not necessary. Pinkie, I... whatever you're doing, keep doing it. Aim for the eyes." She gave a crisp salute while the others simply nodded. Twilight's eyes shone a bit at your praise, but nothing more.
"Now then, let's eat and then get back to training. We still have seven hours till nightfall."
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You and the ponies reentered the training grounds, the four fighters returning to their spots while Rarity and Fluttershy once again sat off to the side. Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Pinkie all turned to look at you, awaiting your order to begin.
"Alright ponies," you yelled. You thought for a moment... it had been a long time since the bard's college, but maybe you still had it in you. You cleared your throat and began singing a reiteration of Matthew Wilder and David Zippel's 'Make a Man Out of You'.
Let's get down to business,
To defeat, dragons.
Keep your wits about you,
and the war, is won.
You don't look like much but never fret,
'Cuz you can bet, before we're through
Ponies I'll, make a Dov, out of you.
Care ful of their fire, YOL!
Be prepared, for all
You will not be ready,
T'ill you give, your all.
You're a joke, a weak, pathetic lot,
and you haven't got a clue
Somehow I'll, make a Dov, out of you
My magic needs a rest
Gotta swing this hammer harder
I've gotta go much faster if I'm gonna win
He's got these dears half worked to death
I really hope he won't need me
I'm really glad that I know how to swim!
Be a Dov,
You must be smart as a Sigic Mage
Be a Dov,
With all the strength of the mighty Talos
Be a Dov,
Have the speed of the Whirlwind Fury
And be as great as the one who taught you so!
Dragons racing towards us,
You must fight, or die
If you heed my warnings,
then you might, survive.
You are ready for, the dragon war,
So pack up, we march at dawn
I think I've made a Dov, out of you.
[chorus x2]
RO DAH!
The ponies were all panting heavily from the days training, but as you watched them surge on, you knew they were ready. As you looked on, preparing to call a halt to training, Rarity trotted up besides you. You looked down to her as she spoke.
"That was... quite the song J'Dagna. I had no idea you knew how to sing so beautifully." She smiled up at you, and you returned it in full.
"Well thank you. i assure you, there are a great many thing that I can do that would surprise you. And a great many more that you wouldn't think possible by any."
"Well I should hope we get to see some of those grand feats then." Your smile broadened, and you gave her a soft wink.
"We shall see Rarity, we shall see." You turned back to the training ponies, and called for them to stop. They once again sighed in relief, and a few of them even collapsed on the ground. Well, all of them really. You laughed aloud, and made your way over to inspect the damage.
As you surveyed the training dummies once again, a broad smile reappeared on your features. They had done beautifully, and they would be more than capable of handling themselves in a fight. You looked at their forms slumped on the ground, and gave soft chuckle. Well, a short one anyway.