//------------------------------// // Chapter XII: Sparring // Story: Nocturnal Mayhem // by Silvak //------------------------------// Normally, a pony would think they're going crazy when they're hearing voices in their head. Now while I wouldn't take a sanity test, due to the fact that I might already be loco, the reason behind me hearing voices is the fact that I cast a secondary spell to be able to hear Rainbow's and Pinkie's mental conversation, just to be on the safe side. The making of the spell wasn't easy, for it involved lining my magic with my dimensional energy, and then creating a kind of hive mind link with Party's mind. Thankfully, I had experience with a hive mind for a short period of my life, even though it was a highly unpleasant thing to have since the hive mind wanted to alter my mind to become another minion in the fold, as one would say. Regardless of that, I had the to make the spell as one of many precautions, which led to me finding out that the duo weren't being suppressed by the Party personality, based on how they were jabbering about what things they could try in their fused form. Then we do a loop before landing on the ground, only to run as fast as we can before hitting a spring-loaded platform that sends us bursting into the air! Rainbow exclaimed as she and Pinkie were discussing tricks they could do. And then we can throw glitter behind us, making a glittering rainbow trail! Pinkie added, giggling at the thought. Maybe if we're doing this for a party for foals, Pinkie, Rainbow replied, as Party and I, along with a confused Shade and a still shocked Grace, came out into the gardens. "So what's the plan?" I asked as Party hovered in the air, rubbing a hoof against her chin. "So many things to do, so little time. Oh wait, since I'm a combo of two ponies, does that mean my Cutie Mark is a combo too?" Party mused out loud before she looked at her flank, where on it were rainbow colored lightning bolts coming out of a popped blue balloon, with two balloons, one yellow and one blue, circling around the popped balloon with along with a pair of clouds. "Oh, that Cutie Mark looks so awesome!" "Yeah yeah, it looks 'awesome', but are you going to help me with my flying lessons or not?" I asked, frowning as Party turned her attention away from her butt and back to me. "Oopsie, sorry about that. But I'm wondering about one thing, how would you know if something funny is going on with me?" Party replied as she tilted her head in curiosity. Rolling my eyes, I answered, "Simply put, as long as my tiny bit of magic is in you still, I can hear Rainbow and Pinkie talking still." What‽ She's reading our minds! Rainbow exclaimed. Wow, I didn't know Nebula's psychic! Pinkie commented, causing me to grit my teeth at their mental shouting. "No, I can't read your minds, I can only hear you two when you're communicating with each other. I'm certain that your private thoughts are still private. Now don't do any screaming, cause I can hear that in my head," I stated as I rubbed a hoof against the side of my head as Pinkie gave me an apology. "Okay, so can we get back on track with my flight lessons?" "Sure thing Neby! Though since I have both Pinkie's and Rainbow's knowledge, I think I know what you've been doing wrong with your flying!" Party said with a smile. Huh? What did I miss? Rainbow added, confusion clear in her mental voice. Frowning as Party landed down in front of me, she tapped my nose as she said, "Boop!" Scrunching my nose as I temporary went cross-eyed at that action, Party continued, "I saw that you're normally just in a relaxed state and just doing whatever you want for fun, but when you're in the air, you're all tensed up. You need to relax and let your wings do what they're supposed to do, not force them." Blinking, I tilted my head as I asked, "Oh? But how come Pinkie or Rainbow didn't say a thing about that?" Giggling, Party explained, "It's cause Pinkie could only notice that you were tense about it, and Rainbow could only notice that there is something wrong with how you're flying, but she couldn't figure out what. But together, it was easy-peasy to figure out what was wrong." Huh, now that you think about it, she has a point, Rainbow commented. Raising an eyebrow, I took a look at my wings as I spread them open. It was true that I wasn't taking my flight lessons to be an enjoyable experience, I was still expecting a lot more crashes for weeks to come before I finally gotten a handle on it. Years of always being on the ground tend to make some less willing to try flying due to going outside their norm, even though my life was always in some state of upheaval. But maybe Party was right, and I was taking this flying far too seriously. It can't hurt to just simply take this in stride like everything else. At worst, I'll just knock down a wall or something and walk with just a bit of dirt in my coat. "Alright, Party, I'll give what you say a shot. Maybe I'll get lucky and only end up with ten holes in the walls today," I said, causing Party to beam at me. Who knew that fusing a party pony with a pegasus that had a bit of an ego problem would result in a much better teacher? A couple of hours after taking Party's advice, I was finally flying through the air, albeit a bit slowly since I did punch three more holes into the walls before finally getting a hang of things. Party was happy that I was getting some real progress in, but then had an idea about something when she told me to get on the ground, though I could see a mischievous glint in her eyes. "So, what you have in mind now, Party?" I asked with a quirked eyebrow as she trotted around me, glee apparent on her face. "It's a secret!" Party answered, causing me to narrow my eyes at her. Even the duo were silent, making me wonder if those three found a different line of communication to avoid me eavesdropping on whatever plans they cooked up. "Why not ju—whoa!" I started to say before I had to rear my head back to avoid a sudden punch from Party, who just smiled as she then swung a rear leg at me, causing me to duck before I hopped a short distance away. "What was that about?" Smirking at me, Party replied, "Remember that you wanted to have Rainbow fight you in the air? Well, it's not fair to take on a filly that isn't even ready for some sparring on the ground," as she took up some kind of fighting stance, standing on her rear legs as her forelegs were raised, one hoof more outstretch than the other. Frowning, I glanced at my guard, only to gape a bit when I saw that they were sitting in a pair of lawn chairs, eating from a bag of popcorn. "What are you two doing, and where did you get that popcorn‽" I shouted, only to see the both of them pointing at Party, who just gave me a wink. Typical, I thought to myself as I stood on my own rear legs, standing with my left side facing towards Party while my forelegs were raised in a half-bended position, as I felt my wings flaring to help with my balance. "Do you even know how to fight, Party?" "Pffft, Rainbow has a black belt in hoof-quan-do and karate!" Party exclaimed before she lunged at me with a feint, that I simply dodged before blocking her real attack with my left hoof. Before she could react, I reached forward with my right hoof, grabbing onto her extended leg before swinging her about as I tossed her at a bush. Sadly, I was reminded of how effective throws were on beings capable of flight as Party simply flapped her wings to reorientate herself. "Oh wow, that was a great move! Do you have a black belt too?" Keeping a neutral expression, I answered, "No, unless you count improvisation," as I resumed my combat stance while Party hovered around me as she let out a chuckle. Sadly, before Party could make another move, our match came to an impromptu end when I heard Luna's voice coming from the garden entrance as she said, "Good news my daughter! I have finished my royal duties early today, so I can he—who the buck are you?" as she reached us, staring in surprise at Party. "Hi Princess Luna, I'm Party Blitz! A fusion of Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie! Nice to meet you, again!" Party exclaimed with a snicker as she flew over to Luna, grabbing a hoof to give her a hoof shake. "Fusion? What are you talking about? What have you been up to Nebula?" Luna asked, looking confused at first before narrowing her eyes at me. Before I could even open my mouth to say a thing, Party flew in front of me as she said, "Hey, don't be mad at Neby. She asked Rainbow and Pinkie if they wanted to try her new fusion spell, and even took precautions! She's not up to another prank, honest!" "Wait a minute, new fusion spell?" Luna replied, looking at me with an expression of mixed surprise and confusion. "It's a spell from Star Gazer's Theoretical Spells on Spatial Magic that perked my curiosity. Their spell had solid ground, but I recognized that some parts needed some refining. So I just worked on the spell last morning and created some precautions in regards to the spell in case something goes wrong. My retainers were prime candidates and they did volunteer for it," I explained as Party furiously nodded her head. Looking between the two of us, Luna let out a sigh as she said, "Very well, if they volunteered for it, then I can't fault you for trying the spell. However, be certain to keep the two mares safe, they are both important to the defense of the nation and are dear to my heart. Though, I wonder, what happened to them since they're now you, Party." This caused me to frown as I realized something, turning my attention to Party as I asked, "She has a point, I haven't heard a peep from them for a while now." "Heard?" Luna asked as she looked at me with confusion on her face again. "A precaution spell, that allows me to heard the two's chatter inside Party's head, but not their private thoughts," I simply commented. Before Luna could say a thing, Party replied, "Oh, they're there still, I just think that they're fine with just letting me run the show by myself." As I narrowed my eyes at Party, I then heard Pinkie exclaiming, Yeah, Party's doing a great job already! I bet she has so many fun ideas to try that neither one of us might come up with together! Like Pinkie said, Party's pretty awesome, so I rather just bask in the awesomeness and relax, which you should be doing too. So no worries, we're fine. Just watching what Party does like a movie, Rainbow added in. Glancing at Luna, I said, "I just heard those two, they're just letting Party do her thing for now." "I see. Well as long they're fine, then your little experiment can continue as long as nopony gets hurt. Now, what were you two doing prior to my arrival?" Luna asked as her serious demeanor shifted to a relaxed one. "Oh! We're just sparring, and Nebula has some moves!" Party exclaimed with a smile as she brought her forehooves together, producing a soft clopping noise. "Oh? That's a surprise. Perhaps I'll just simply stand back and watch you continue your duel," Luna stated as she backed away a few steps, though I saw a bit of a glint her in eyes that made me a bit suspicious. Before I could put more thought into it, I had to duck a fast punch from Party. "Eyes on the prize, Neby!" Party declared as she threw another punch at me, one that I blocked with my right foreleg. As I shifted my focus into the match, I thought to myself, Bah, whatever Luna's cooking up, I can handle. I've been in messy situations before, this won't be anything different from them if it comes to that.