//------------------------------// // Chapter 23: Preparations. // Story: Of Men and Insects // by VeganSpyro97 //------------------------------// The stars and galaxies swirled and danced around the two figures as they traversed the wide, wonderful and mysterious world of dreams. The beautiful lights swam in and out of focus like schools of fish evading a shark, flaring brightly on occasion before fading once again. The two figures were tall, regal beings, with flowing manes and soft, caring eyes, filled with motherly warmth spawned from decades upon decades of wise rule. The shorter of the two moved far more confidently through the endless expanse, whilst the taller kept pausing to take it all in. A huge, gaseous disk, filled with billions of motes of light, swept by, it’s spiraling shape centered around the enormous, bright core that glowed a brilliant yellow whilst it’s surrounding mass glowed blue. Celestia watched the huge galaxy spin past her, before rapidly vanishing into the ether. “His dreams certainly are very clear, are they not?” Luna asked, the navy blue Alicorn was also watching the galaxy as it rapidly shrank into the distance, before it became just another mote of light. “It’s a marvel that he can produce such detail so quickly. He shows a remarkable talent in dreamwalking.” “I agree, sister.” Celestia nodded, watching as a huge, striped ball of gas, coloured in various shades of brown, ranging from deep brown to pale, dusty brown, drifted past. A faint ring of rocks encircled the giant. “And his knowledge of the universe beyond our planet is astounding.” “And yet he is but a novice on his world.” Luna chuckled, considering how even more complex the universe around them would be. “I’d still take him over an expert, though.” “He does have that effect, doesn’t he?” Celestia quipped. “I dare say his sincerity is to blame.” Luna commented, watching as the huge, burning ball of gas known as the sun shot past. “Ah, did you drop this?” “No. I have mine.” Celestia replied with a smile. Planet Earth came into view, and very soon, the two Alicorns were shooting down through the atmosphere, towards a house in the suburbs of a huge city. Celestia murmured her amazement, seeing the huge structures that stood so high above the ground. They spread their wings and slowed their descent to a crawl, landing in the backyard of a particular suburban house. The back door was open, allowing the two easy access to the building’s interior. What they saw spoke volumes as to the greatest desire of the dreamer. The changeling known as Allan “Bronze” Ryder, was sat amid a large group of individuals, eyes closed and a content smile on his face. The young woman that Luna recognized as Katherine Ryder, his sister, was sat to his right, and their parents sat behind them. Luna herself was perched beside them, and Fluttershy sat pressed against his side. All of his other friends, human, pony, and Changeling alike, surrounded them, and all of them were just as happy as Bronze himself. “Hello.” He greeted, opening an eye. “I was practicing before my next lesson.” “You certainly got my mane and tail.” Luna commented. “Though, my peytral is a little thicker than that.” A brief shimmer encased the black, metal necklace of the dream Luna, and it steadily gained a few more millimeters of thickness. “Better?” Allan asked. “Much.” Luna looked about, before continuing. “Lovely as this all is, I’m afraid we must leave it for now. We have important matters to discuss. We’ll need to gather our friends before we continue though.” Allan nodded, and the dream faded from view. As the darkness fully surrounded them, Luna’s horn ignited, and a whole new world of light revealed itself. The stars were as a road, paving the path along which they strode, passing a multitude of doors, each one personalized after the pony they belonged to. Luna bade her student and sister to wait outside, before entering one of the doors. Very soon, she re-emerged, Princess Twilight Sparkle beside her. Allan and Twilight greeted one another warmly, after Twilight had finished saying hello to her oldest friend. Another door summoned Applejack, another Fluttershy, who gave Bronze both a hug and a quick kiss, the third Pinkie Pie, who was standing on the other side, waiting when Luna opened it, and finally, Rarity and Rainbow Dash. “So what’s the occasion?” Rarity asked, curious. “Well….”Allan started. “My student, my sister and I….” Luna continued. “We have been talking. Mostly about you six, Starlight, and Spike.” Celestia sounded far more confident. Perks of over a thousand years rule. “We have all voiced concerns over your capabilities.” “Chrysalis is a formidable foe, and so far, your abilities have kept you alive, but each time she has returned, she came closer and closer to beating you. Then, the last time, she actually did.” Bronze recounted his own arguments. “That can’t happen again.” Rainbow butted in. “No, offense, B, but she caught us when we were asleep. We couldn’t have stopped her if we tried. Nopony could!” “That is where you are wrong, Rainbow Dash.” Luna corrected. “Long before even our time, warriors of all manner of species learned and developed awareness techniques that helped to warn them of danger, even when asleep. It saved many a life, and was one of the skills passed down to us when we were taught to fight.” Allan grinned. “Luna was giving me a little history lesson about early pony warfare, and when she brought it up, I knew it sounded familiar!” A book flashed into existence beside him, one depicting two humans, battling it out on the deck of a sailing ship. “I read a book series in my teens about a world of pirates, who made use of a skill from ancient Japan, called zanshin. Zanshin was a state of heightened awareness, like a sixth sense, where one could keep track of opponents around them, even without seeing them. And it wasn’t just opponents either, it helped to keep you alert of your surroundings, to the point that you could react to things faster than anyone not using the skill!” “Allan and Luna came to me that same night, and we talked about trying to train others in it’s use. The conversation developed into today’s topic.” Celestia said. “After careful consideration, I have decided that their reasoning is sound, and ask each of you to accept this training. Without it, you are left vulnerable, as are the powers of the elements, and the Tree of Harmony. I will not force any of you to do this. It is up to you whether or not you learn to fight.” Fluttershy turned to look at her coltfriend. “Allan...did you think about this because of the glacier?” Allan was silent for several long moments, before he sighed, head drooping down, and the book vanishing into a cloud of sparkles. “Yes.” “......Why?” “Any of us could have died that day.” Allan replied, sadly. “Shining was the only one with any training at all, and, no offense Princesses, but your guards skills are sorely lacking.” “It is a problem I myself have observed. You do not offend me, dear pupil.” “Had we had the right training, we could have driven it off easily, without killing it. Think about it. It wouldn’t be to hurt, but to help. To save lives, instead of endanger. I don’t want to run into a situation where I have to choose between one pony or another, regardless of who they are. If this training can help reduce the chances of that happening, I’m going to take it.” Bronze spoke surely, confidently. Him practicing in a mirror for hours on end may have helped a bit… “It does sound pretty awesome.” Rainbow admitted. “Shucks! Even I admit it sounds pretty sweet. And if it lets me protect mah family an’ friends, then hay yeah, I’m in!” “I’m not so sure I agree, darlings….it sounds awfully….brutish.” “Rarity, I’ve seen you challenge dragons to a fight for your friends. We all know you’re no slouch when we need you.” Twilight said, eyebrow raised. “But…Princess, are you sure about this?” “I do.” Celestia admitted, gazing into her peer’s eyes. “I would not force it on any one of you, but I believe it to be for the best.” Fluttershy and Rarity looked uncertain still, while Twilight and the others were seriously considering it. “We have had quite a few near misses…. I suppose.” Rarity eventually conceded. “It wouldn’t hurt….too much.” Fluttershy hung back, mane over her left eye as her left flicked back and forth, as if she was reading a list of pros and cons. Allan let the conversation quiet down, waiting for her to come to a decision, saying only only thing. “It’s up to you. You don’t have to force yourself.” The yellow mare smiled warmly at him, before a thought crossed her mind and she looked annoyed. “I just realized, you said you’d move past the whole glacier thing, that we’d both try to do that!” Her eyes narrowed. “And you’ve been thinking about this for an entire month?” Allan smiled sheepishly. “Uh….surprise?” Fluttershy’s narrowed gaze turned to Luna. “Can you wake me up so that I can kick him?” “Flutters! Come on!” Allan protested. “Certainly.” Luna grinned wickedly. Her horn glowed, and Fluttershy became somewhat see-through for a moment, she made a very swift motion with her hoof, causing Bronze to yelp, and he disappearing entirely for a brief few seconds. He reappeared moments later, scowling. “Not cool, Shy.” “We’re going to talk about this.” She promised, causing Bronze to cringe a little. Confident Fluttershy was scary Fluttershy. There were chuckles all around, and eventually, the final verdicts were in. The friends parted ways for the rest of the night, leaving teacher, student, and teacher’s sister to talk a little while longer. “You sure they’re up to it?” Luna questioned. “This won’t be like anything they’ve done before. It will be serious, hard, grueling even.” “Together, they can face it.” Celestia nodded firmly. “While some of them may find it more difficult, they will emerge stronger than ever. That I am sure of.” “Together, yes. It’s when they’re apart that worries me.” “Worries the both of us.” Allan chipped in. “Though, I’m part of the concern. I’ve never done anything like this before. At least they have some prior experience.” “You have a strong heart, my student. You’ll manage.” *********************** Allan held the pose as long as he was able, his muscles aching underneath his chitin. The teaching of Zanshin was not a precise art, but something akin to a mixture of instinct and enlightened thinking. Luna had them all balancing on their forehooves, as a test of endurance and patience. They had already been there for some time, though not one pony had bowed out yet. Rarity seemed closest to doing so, followed, both bizarrely, and yet, predictably, by Rainbow and Pinkie. Luna herself was having no difficulty, whilst Applejack, Twilight, and Fluttershy were doing quite well. Twilight had learned patience over years acting as leader to her friends, dealing with various crises and situations that had honed her skills. Applejack, being a farmer, had learned patience from caring for her family, the farm, and everything in it. Fluttershy had patience by the bucketload, learned through caring for her animal friends. And Allan...well, patience wasn’t his strong suit, but it wasn’t his weakest either. They were using one of the many rooms in Twilight’s enormous castle, as it was far simpler for the group of friends to go to the castle, than go all the way to Canterlot. It was supposed to be a meeting room of sorts, but after clearing away the tables and chairs, the large room was perfect for their training. Allan’s muscles ached. Even as he realized that Rainbow, Pinkie and Rarity had finally given in, his own legs buckled and he fell to the floor, with a loud crash. “Ow!” Allan couldn’t help the cry that came out of his mouth as he smashed into the cold floor. “Eeeewww….” Rarity moaned, from where she lay, panting. “Why did I agree to do something so icky? Everything’s all sweaty!” “Quiet, please.” Luna admonished, and further complaints were quickly stifled. After a few long minutes, the last of the friends finally gave in to their complaining muscles. “Alright. That’s enough of that. We’ll do some more in our next session.” Luna announced. “Now, we shall spar.” “Spa!” Rarity’s head shot up. “Yes, yes, please let us go to the spa!” “Wrong kind of spa, Rarity.” Applejack smirked. “The Princess wants us to fight one another.” “But that’s so brutish! I couldn’t possibly!” Rarity cried. “A lady never raises her hoof in violence!” Luna’s eyebrow rose, as the Alicorn stepped in front of the seven ponies. “Dost thou suggest, fair Rarity, that my title of ‘Lady of the Night’ is invalid because I have raised my hoof to violently defend my kingdom?” Luna suggested, a wicked little gleam coming into her eye. “Why, uh, of course not, Princess.” Rarity amended, ears splayed back. “Fret not, dear Rarity. I merely meant to point out that even a lady can fight for what she believes. Now, please pair up. We’ll have each pair take turns sparring in the center of the room. Allan, if you will.” Luna indicated the center of the floor, and Allan took his place before her. “Tis a simple exercise. Just utilize your experiences and abilities to survive against your opponent. First one to surrender, well, loses.” Luna seemed quite nonchalant as she turned to face Allan. Her poise was relaxed, and she was smiling gently. “I shall not utilize the full extent of my strength and experience against Allan, as I would most likely have him pinned to the floor faster than our Ms. Dash can fly.” “Ms?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Faster?” Starlight blinked. “Please go easy on me…” Allan whispered. Luna smirked at him from across the “arena”. “Now, Allan, do your best to incapacitate me.” Luna finally crouched down, ready to fight. “Do whatever you can think of to take me out.” Whatever huh? That gave Allan some ideas, but none of them would be particularly effective against an opponent with superior strength, even if she wouldn’t be using that strength to it’s fullest potential. Allan breathed in deeply, starting to formulate some kind of plan. He’d have to- Luna was suddenly beside him, hoof raised in readiness to strike. “Don’t allow yourself to lose focus!” She cried, hoof arcing down towards him. Allan dove aside, scrambling to keep himself on his hooves as Luna calmly adjusted her own positioning so that she was ready for anything Allan might do in retaliation. Pivoting clumsily on his hooves, Allan span to face Luna. A smile graced her lips, and she seemed highly amused. “What?” He asked, concerned. “You have good reflexes.” She said, as if that explained everything. She lunged again, spinning about and kicking out with her back right hoof. Allan dodged again, but wasn’t slow enough to avoid feeling the rush of air that accompanied the attack. If one of those connected, he doubted he’d be capable of fighting back. This was her holding back? Allan didn’t want to know what she looked like going all out. Allan decided not to let her keep the upper hoof, and instead chose to gallop around her as she once again adjusted her footing. Going from her right side to her left, Allan kicked off with his hind legs, and tried his luck at punching the alicorn. He aimed for her side, only to come down hard on the cold stone, Luna having deftly sidestepped his attack. His hoof caught on hers, and he tumbled over, slamming his chin into the floor. His fangs pierced the skin of his lips, and blood dribbled into his mouth. “Oh….I’m sorry, are you alright?” Luna asked, concern flowing off of her in waves. Allan gingerly touched the tip of his hoof to his mouth, and then looked at it. Glistening red liquid coated the tip, and he winced in pain. Despite the minor injury, Allan felt fine. He swallowed, hating the coppery taste. “I’m  fine.” Luna waited a few moments longer, to make sure Allan wasn’t just putting on a brave front. Once she was sure he wasn’t, she settled back into her fighting stance. Allan hauled himself up, ready for another attempt. Dashing forward, he leaped up again, throwing a punch, but this time, when Luna sidestepped, he was ready for it, and landed on his back hooves, throwing himself in her direction with a new attack, which he was surprised to feel connect. Luna’s reaction was to step back from the blow, which had connected with the side of her jaw. Allan took this as a sign of surprise, and pressed the advantage, only for Luna to use her long, tapered horn and deflect the attempted strike by rotating her head in a circular fashion and directing his attack upwards, throwing him off balance. Luna’s hind legs then smashed into his chest. Allan flew back, landing in a crumpled heap, legs tucked up to his chest protectively. His entire front ached. “Oh, now I know I overdid it.” Luna admonished herself. The Lunar diarch quickly moved to his side, and a with a short spell, helped to dispel some of the pain Allan was feeling. “I think that’s the two of us done for this session.” Allan looked up to see her offered hoof, and he took it, wheezing as his lungs struggled to work properly after the heavy blow. He staggered over to Fluttershy, with Luna’s help, and carefully set himself down beside her. “Are you okay?” His marefriend asked, leaning over to nibble gently on his ear, something he’d been surprised to find very relaxing when she’d first tried it. A yelp of shock had been involved during the first time… “Yeah. Just trying to relearn how to breathe.” He whispered back, leaning against her. He was a little miffed that his plan to incapacitate Luna hadn’t had a chance to be implemented. Next time, perhaps. “Applejack. Who did you choose as a part-” Luna only got the first part out before Applejack and Rainbow jumped up. “Alright, when you feel ready, you may begin.” The two were grinning manically at one another. “Please try not to kill each other.” Luna added, sarcastically. Rainbow shot towards Applejack like a bullet, while AJ hopped to one side and reached a hoof out to grab Dash. Dash did nothing to evade AJ’s grapple, instead opting to haul the Earth Pony along with her. AJ whooped aloud, her hat floating gently to the floor where she had been just a moment before. Dash had little difficulty shaking the farm pony off though. She executed a stop so sudden that Allan almost got whiplash from several meters away. Applejack was only holding on with one hoof when Dash abruptly ended her speed run, planting all four legs and coming to a perfect halt, and as such, the orange mare went soaring gracefully overhead, flipping over in mid air, where she thudded to the ground on all four hooves. Dash went on the offensive, hopping onto her hind legs and kicking first with one hind leg in a roundhouse kick, and then used the other for a sudden snap-kick. AJ blocked both of them with hooves of steel and a smirk, before slamming her forehead into Rainbow. The sudden display of violence had Allan tensing up, wanting to rush in and break up the fight. Luna noticed the tension, and smiled. Applejack was physically stronger, whilst Dash was faster. Dash evaded strikes from AJ, and Applejack blocked or simply shrugged off the punches and jabs Rainbow threw her way. Dash interrupted a salvo of punches to leap up and over Applejack, flipping end over end before landing on her hooves and driving her foreleg’s elbow joint into Applejack’s side. Applejack grunted, but caught the foreleg with her own, and with a great heave, threw Rainbow towards the closest wall. Rainbow tried to compensate and flip herself over before she hit the wall, but she was only partially successful, crashing hard into the wall and falling to the floor. Applejack was by her side in an instant, pinning her down. “Gotcha!” “Damnit!” Rainbow swore, unable to move under Applejack’s hold. “I think you bruised my ribs!” Considering the number of cuts and bruises the pair had sustained, Allan considered it lucky that bruised ribs was the worst injury. “Applejack takes the match.” Luna announced. Rainbow shot daggers at Applejack as the farmer helped her up. “I’ll get you next time, Apples.” She promised. Applejack shot her a grin. “Careful Dash, your wounded ego’s showin’.” Rarity decided to intervene before things got  worse. “Now now, darlings, let’s save the fighting for our next session, shall we?” The two  would have been all too happy to ignore her, had Luna not positioned herself behind Rarity, inspecting her hooves with a glowing horn, reminding them who was in charge. They promptly returned to their seats. “Fluttershy, dear, would you come here?” Rarity asked, politely, from the fighter’s circle. Next to Allan, Fluttershy “eeped”, but moved to stand. Allan tapped hr shoulder with a hoof, getting her to turn back. He stole a kiss then, turning her face beet red, and whispered in her ear. “You can do it.” Fluttershy seemed far more enthusiastic after that, or, perhaps Allan had just helped her to stop panicking. Rarity and Fluttershy’s match was far more tame. Flutters spent most of it flying just out of reach of anything Rarity could do physically, and Rarity didn’t know much in the way of combat spells, besides the most basic of beam attacks, which almost all unicorns knew how to do from instinct, meaning that Fluttershy was able to simply dodge her way to victory, letting the fashion pony wear herself out. When Rarity finally slumped to the ground, sweaty and tired, Fluttershy hadn’t really known what else to do, so just….sat on her. Luna had almost been unable to anounce the winner because she was too busy laughing. Allan was most interested in seeing who would win in the next fight, as seeing an Alicorn going up against the pink terror was something one just had to see. Pinkie won. How she did it was perhaps the most ridiculous Allan could think of. She’d told her a series of nonsense things. “Hey, Twilight! This sentence is false!” Pinkie yelled, the moment the fight began. Immediately, Twilight looked confused. “Space does not exist! Water is red! Wheels are square!” Poor Twilight was so overcome with nonsense that she actually looked on the verge of a complete mental shut down. Pinkie had started bouncing all around the young Alicorn, different noises accompanying each bounce, including crickets, frogs, air-horns and pop sounds. “Honey is sour! Discord is normal! The snozberries taste like snozberries!” “Pinkie, what are you even saying?!” Twilight cried. “None of this makes any sense!” “I put baking soda in all my frosting! Gummy is a panda! Allan licks spoons!” “Hey!” Allan cried in indignation. Fluttershy giggled next to him. “How is a raven like a writing desk?” Pinkie asked, giggling uncontrollably. “I don’t know!” Twilight cried, helplessly. Her mane was completely frazzled. “How?” Pinkie slipped on a monocle, which she got from thin air, thanking it as she did, and put on a posh accent. “The answer, of course, is that neither are made of cheese.” Twilight’s lower left eyelid twitched once, and then she toppled over, legs still perfectly straight, as if she were a goat. Pinkie trotted calmly over, and  flopped over onto Twilight, and declared: “I am Pinkie Pie, vanquisher of Purple Book Horse!” Luna just slapped her hoof to her forehead. *************************