//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Mentors // Story: Initial D: First Equestria Stage // by SixShooterOutlaw //------------------------------// It was very early in the morning the next day, Rainbow Dash had her coach's cap and whistle on, Itsuki looked like it was taking all of the energy he had just to keep his eyes open. "Rainbow" Itsuki said yawning tiredly "When you said 'tomorrow morning' I didn't think you meant dawn". "If you want to be the best, you've got to train as hard as possible for as long as possible" Rainbow told him "And that means getting up as early as possible to make the most out of everyday". "It's going to be like this everyday?". "It will be until you learn to fly" Rainbow answered "But it will be worth it, don't you want to be the best flier you can be?". "Yes, I do". "Then it's going to be like this, I got up early to learn in flight school and even earlier in the Wonderbolts Academy and now I'm a Wonderbolt, the best of the best, so if you want to be like that, you have to train like one, so either give up and go home or work your hardest to be the best, got it?" Itsuki then got a determined look in his eyes "Got it". "Are you ready?". "YEAH!". "Then let's get to it!" Rainbow said encouragingly "First things first, let see if you can fly in a straight line for a few yards before we get to advanced stuff". "Okay" Itsuki replied, he then began hovering, then pushed himself forward, he went a few feet then fell on his face. "Again" Rainbow told him. Itsuki shook it off and tried again only to have the same result. "Again". They repeated the process for a few hours until Itsuki covered almost twelve yards without falling, he flew back towards Rainbow and landed in front of her. "Great job, Itsuki!" Rainbow said proudly "Now let's keep going". Itsuki flew back up and flew in a straight line, covering more and more ground each time, of course most of his landings were due to falling, but at least he was covering more ground. A little while later, Rainbow and Itsuki were taking a short break, Rainbow had brought some water for them to drink while they relaxed. "You're doing a great job today" Rainbow told him "You're covering so much distance, I'd say in a day or two, you'll have basic flight mastered". "Yeah, but I keep crashing, how can I master flying when I keep crashing?" he asked her. "You'll get the hang of it, I mean, think of how far you got last time!". "I still crashed". "It was a pretty epic crash though" Rainbow pointed out, taking a drink out of her bottle of water "I crashed into a garbage can as a filly in flight school". "Eww". "Yeah, that's how I got the nickname 'Rainbow Crash'" Rainbow winced at the memory "How about after we get you flying without much crashing, we teach you how to do tricks? I don't think you'll get a better trainer for that than a Wonderbolt!". "Sounds like that might be fun!". "Alright, but you have to do several successful flights before then" Rainbow told him " you got that?". "Yes, ma'am!" Itsuki said preparing to fly. "Now fly and give me twenty laps!" Rainbow shouted and Itsuki took off to the sky. At Friendship castle, Twilight was preparing for Iketani's lesson, she had several stacks of books around the room for the lesson, Iketani was sitting on a wooden stool in the center of the room, waiting for Twilight to began, Twilight walked over and sat at her desk. "Alright Iketani, we're going to begin the lessons today with a piece of magic history" Twilight began "In Pre- Equestria history, Twilight the first, my ancestor, invented the spell to help Unicorns teleport, they called it 'Winking', but it was the only spell all Unicorns could do, but all Unicorns could do one spell, linked to their special talent that they could do" she then took a breath and continued "A couple hundred years later, Unicorns all but lost their magical abilities, only a select few could do magic and all it could do was help create rainbows, so they had a magic wand to do spells but even that was limited. So that era is now referred to as Magic's Lost Age, it wasn't until a few years before ponies settled in Equestria, a Unicorn wizard named Star Swirl the Bearded and his apprentice Clover the Clever started to redevelop magic spells and create new ones, like Telekinesis which is now one of the most basic spells for Unicorns to learn today" she then looked over to Iketani "That is why, I'm starting you with Telekinesis, it's a spell every Unicorn can do, now I want you to lift that book sitting in front of you". "Okay, Twilight" Iketani responded, he then started focusing on the book, it started floating. "You're getting it" Twilight told him "Now can you set it on my desk over here?". "I'll try" Iketani answered as he started to make the book float towards Twilight, it got about half way there when Iketani lost control of it and it flew right at Twilight's head! "AHH!" Twilight screamed and ducked, the book just missing her by about six inches hitting the wall behind her, she then sat back up "I think I know what your problem is". "What?". "You focus too hard" Twilight began explaining "You need to relax a little when trying to cast a spell, or it can have disastrous results". "But how do I relax when you say I have to focus?". "I never said not to focus I said not to focus too hard" Twilight reminded him "Just focus a little and if you feel like you're losing control of your magic, relax a little". "Okay, I'm going to try this again" Iketani told her as he lifted up another book, the book began to float so he started to move it towards Twilight. He then felt like it was going to fly out of his grip and it started to shake rapidly. "Take a deep breath" Twilight advised him "It will help you". Iketani took a deep breath and the book stopped shaking, he kept moving the book until it was floating right above the desk and he set it down gently. "I did it!" Iketani announced happily. "Very good!" Twilight clapped her hooves "Now can you bring that whole stack over here?". "At once?". "If you think you can". "I'll try it" he started to focus on the stack of books, they started to float, he tried to bring them to over to the desk, but when he got to the desk they fell out of his grip and on to Twilight's head "I am so sorry Twilight!". Twilight moved the books and stacked them in a neat pile next to her, "It's fine Iketani, but why don't you stick to moving them one at a time?" she suggested. "That sounds like a plan". Twilight nodded then said "Can you move that stack of books over here?" she pointed towards a stack of books about six feet away from them. "Sure". "And remember, do it one at a time" she reminded. "Yes" he said as he started lifting the top book, brought it over to them and set it on the desk. About ten minutes later, the whole stack, which was about ten books high, was now on top of the desk. "Great job!" Twilight congratulated him "I think with a few lessons, you'll have this down in no time". "Thanks Twilight" Iketani said smiling. "You're welcome, now let's get to the next lesson" Twilight told him.