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// Twilight's Training Regimen 
// Story: Scales of Time 
// by The Psychopath 
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Upon their return, Twilight set up a training course for the guards to follow while she fashioned heavy armor from the scales she gathered. She still needed some for her own needs, such as repairs, but there were enough scales to out fit at least a hundred and fifty ponies with dragonscale armor and still have some left over for repairs. The course she created only comprised a few hay bales shaped like a dragon's belly with several red dots painted in various areas. There was no real purpose to this other than to help the unicorns develop their magical talents regardless of Twilight's thoughts of such things. The pegasi were training themselves to carry heavy weights at increased speeds and during longer times while the earth ponies were undergoing a similar training but for resistance to strong wind pressure, and the non-combatant unicorns helped them with this by creating strong gales around the ponies' bodies while they laid down on an elevated platform.

Celestia, meanwhile, felt stress growing within her. There was only two weeks left until the King Dragon was awoken and she didn't know what to do. The Dragon Queen had sent her a message about the location of its awakening and she, in turn, informed the lake ejge about it, and repeat did the messaging go. The main issues was: How as it all going to happen. Pacing back and forth on her balcony, the alicorn would gnaw on her finger nails if she had any. Shoot, she would gnaw on her hooves if she didn't need all four legs to walk appropriately. She might have been immortal, but if she had to live through a world where everypony was going to die agonizingly because they were caught between a rock and a hard place, then how could she live with herself. She needed to save some of them. She wouldn't be able to save them all. It was in all of their best interests after all. Yet...when she leaned over the rail to take a peek at Twilight sharpening her tools and teaching another group of guards the best techniques for fighting against draco ponies and how to stay on a dragon when you've latched on, she couldn't help but feeling a little bit of hope. She knew how Twilight's timeline played out, but how would this one work with so much more present? And what were all these living shadows? They kept appearing in greater numbers in the lands around Canterlot and they would only increase in number the more days went by.

"Are you okay, Princess?" a voice asked.

Celestia bounced in surprise and spun around to see the source of the voice. It was an elderly mare of a pale green color and with a mane and tail of orange. "No...I must be honest," Celestia sighed. "I am terrified of what is to come."

"Oh?" the mare set a tray of tea cups and a tea pot on a small white block next to the door. "And why is that?" she asked kindly.

"Because...Because I am afraid. I am afraid of of what is to come."

"Then you are afraid of the unknown." The mare chuckled. "I would think somepony like you would never worry about such things."

"I may be immortal, but I am not invincible, and just the thought of me leaving you all alone to fend for yourselves when this war occurs..." Celestia put a hoof to her stomach and frowned. "It makes me sick to my stomach."

The mare grabbed the tea kettle with her mouth and poured its contents into one of the cups then handed it to Celestia. 

"Just because you fear the unknown does not mean it is inherently bad."

"But--"

"Princess Celestia, if I may, you have seen more generations of ponies than I have. In fact, I recall seeing you when I was just a wee filly of four years, yet here I am by your side as an old mare of sixty-two. You have seen my ancestors when they were young, and even their's when they were at the same age, yet you seem oddly stuck in the past." Celestia stared into her tea. "Is it because you miss those that have passed? Is it becoming an obsession?"

"It's not becoming an obsession," Celestia replied. Her voice had an undertone of growing aggression that the servant would be remiss to ignored.

"You say that, but you said, yourself, just now, that you would rather keep everypony alive with you and that you didn't want to leave us."

"Yes, but--"

"But what, Celestia? What do you fear?"

"I FEAR BEING ALONE!" Celestia shouted. Luckily, the guards did not notice the outburst. "My sister is stuck in the moon, corrupted by her own emotions, and I am an immortal being capable of moving astral bodies!" Celestia pointed at the sun. "If I have nopony to watch over, then I have nopony at all."

The servant took a sip of her own cup of tea and slowly spun the beverage around its container while she savored the liquid herself. "So you fear fighting this inevitability just because you don't want to be alone?" The servant chuckled. "Princess, you don't need to worry. I have grand children growing up, and you will see them with you always. In fact, you're our only link to our ancestors and our past. It's one of the reasons we all look up to you...Andnotriseupinrebelliontooverthrowyou," she whispered.

"What?"

"You can't stay stuck in the past, but you can't ignore it either. You must look forward, but as you do so, you must look back as well to make sure your cart didn't drop anything. This is the joy of life for some."

"To ignore history is to repeat its mistakes?" Celestia asked.

"Exactly! You know history better than any of us, and because of that, you're more than capable of confronting a problem before it even happens. Plus, you might be getting older, but we're not getting any younger. With your guidance, we and our descendants will always have a vast amount of knowledge and a way to overcome obstacles."

Celestia was starting to perk up from the speech she was being given. She realized that this wasn't the first time she was having issues since Twilight arrived, but she was determined to evolve from this and never doubt herself again.

"And I won't be able to do anything without you all. It's a mutually beneficial relationship."

"Uhhh..."

Celestia grabbed her servant by the forelegs. "If we survive this, I'm making a school dedicated to the acquisition and sharing of all knowledge gathered by Equestrians and, possibly, beyond."

"Huh. That's not a bad idea. In fact, that's a fantastic idea!" the servant cheered. 

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to rush to Twilight Sparkle and have her punch the pity out of me."

"WHAT?!"

Before the servant could protest, the alicorn had already rushed off into the castle and away from sight. Below, Twilight flipped a guard onto his back by using his own spear against him.

"Idiots!" she scolded. "I already told you that draco-ponies have increased strength compared to a normal pony. If you keep thrusting your spears like a skeleton then you'll never be able to fight them off!"

One of the guards leaned to his comrade and whispered in their ear. "What the Abyss does that even mean?"

"YOU!" Twilight pointed at the guard who jumped backwards and raised his hooves in terror.

"WHAT?!"

"You have something to say?"

"N-no, m'am!"

"Then why are you talking right now?"

"What? But you--"

"I don't like your tone. Clip the roots from your moss-covered rear and come sparring with me. We'll see if you can do anything other than grow leaves."

The grow looked at his comrades, silently pleading for help, but they all averted their eyes, leaving the guard to fend for himself. A loud thump garnered their attention and caused the summoned guard to drop his jaw by pure surprise.

"You think you can train me, Twilight Sparkle?"

The lavender unicorn huffed in bemusement. "And what does somepony who doesn't even know how to kick a pebble know...about..."

Celestia was wearing armor all over her body, and it wasn't just a sheet of folded metal covering certain parts of her body. It was a very complex one. The entire armor was covered by a very thin sheet of melted gold to give anyone the impression that it was pure gold. This would give anyone knowledgeable in metallurgy a false sense of superiority due to how 'soft' gold is. The helmet surrounded Celestia's entire head, but the jaws were separately attached, almost gluing against the alicorn's mouth. This allowed her to open and close her mouth without hiding it behind the usual design of a full-plate helmet. Her neck was comprised of a multi-layer construct with a white brush extending until it reached the back. The front of the neck had a white losange melted into the metal with various lines extending horizontally from it then curving upwards to disappear below the brush. Her leg armor was segmented much like her neck armor, but the knees were covered with horizontally placed white losanges; and her shoes were shaped into a sharp, forward facing point, giving the sole a shape of a tear drop. Her tail was also covered in armor with a white brush serving as a tail replacement while worn. As for her body, the chest piece held a white, six-pointed star shaped jewel for jewel regalia. The armor extended onto the wings where they somehow coated the feathers as well, giving them a nice, golden hue.

Twilight smirked at the sight. "Wearing a bit of metal won't help you survive anything, Imposter."

"Then teach me."

"What?" Twilight was taken aback by the request.

"I want you to teach me how to defend myself. I already know how to use magic, but I don't know how to use proper melee techniques. I need you to teach me."

Twilight cracked her neck a few times then stared intently at the alicorn in front of her. "And should I refuse?"

"Then I will be more than willing to beg you for your teaching services."

Twilight huffed. "Then expect to be treated with the same disregard as these worthless slackers."

"I don't exactly approve of you slandering my guards, but...If I must."

"Good, NOW LET'S START WITH BUILDING OUR BODIES! TWENTY PUSH-UPS IN TWENTY SECONDS!"