//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: Through the soul of friendship // by ShieldStar //------------------------------// Through the soul of friendship By ShieldStar Chapter 17 The world shook and quaked. Flashes of crimson rent the sky. The pegasi who could slow the storm did, while others did their best to aid in the evacuation. Mayor Breezy Skies was one of these pegasi, “This way eveypony, move quickly but don’t rush!” she shouted above the howling wind. One of the nearby buildings exploded as something flew into it. Ponies screamed and began to run. Breezy Skies flew over to what had once been the local bakery. “Gust what’s going on up there? Why are you down here?” Guster groaned shaking frosting off his feathers. “Breezy, why aren’t these Ponies evacuated already?” “I’m trying but most of them are convinced that it is safer to stay inside.” “By Sombra’s horn! We got to move! It’s all we can do to stop those funnels touching down! I’ll get them to move!” Guster rushed off leaving Breezy Skies where she hovered. Two minutes later a throng of ponies was rushing to her for directions. “Go toward the mountains they can shield us from the twisters!” she called again and again. The wind howled and the ruddy red light flashed again and again. “MINE AT LAST! MINE!” A Deep dark disembodied voice said with greed. Then shadows fell from the clouds, landing with boney crunches the Shadows rose and began to chase the fleeing town’s ponies. The whether team streaked down scooping up foals and carrying them to safety. Guster flew back to Breezy Skies, “What are those things?!” She asked. “I don’t know but the town is lost, team Zeta couldn’t stop one of the funnels from touching down! City hall is gone! Breeze you have got to get these ponies high tailing it out of here!” Breezy nodded grimly, she knew it was a dirty trick, but it may be the only thing to save them now. Filling her lungs she screamed, “CHANGELING INVASION!” the crowd screamed in terror and the herd of ponies stampeded, mares scooped up their foals, stallions with combat training moved to the outside to better protect the young and weak. “GUSTER!” Breezy called, “WE’RE LEAVING, GET YOUR FLIERS DOWN AND COVER US FROM ABOVE!” Guster, nodded sharply and soon all the pegasi formed up. The town of Whitetail Woods was soon empty, except for the shadowy forms of nightmarish wolves that prowled the streets. It had been two days since Twilight’s incident with the entity called Solus. Reed had begun training a small group of guards at the Princess’s request. As result of Solus’s possession of Twilight, Reed had started the next day, instead of the three nights first agreed upon. Reed woke up early every morning since then and led the group on a run around the inside of the palace walls. The Group consisted of a total of nine ponies, three of each pony race. At first the guards had been skeptical that Reed could out run them let alone out last them. Among the group was the guards Reed had raced earlier, his name was Quick Steel. When Reed had first started one guard had asked, “Why Should we listen to you? I don’t even know what you are.” Reed had heard a few murmurs of agreement. “What I am doesn’t really matter, if you must know I am a human.” They looked at him blankly, “See doesn’t matter. As for why? Because there is something evil coming for me and the princesses asked me to train a few guards. That way when it gets here there will be a few who can protect Canterlot and aid in evacuation.” “If it’s after you why don’t you just leave?” “Good point, because This Evil wants everything nice, good and happy, consumed or destroyed. And I am only a means to that end. So even if I did leave, it would eventually find me and ‘get me.’ Then it would come back for all you and Canterlot.” After that they did as he ask, if a little grudgingly at first. Reed had soon proven to them that he could out pace them and in the days since they had follow his directions without hesitation. However there were more than plenty of questions, when Reed started to teach them what he knew about combat and other momentum based activities. “Instead of meeting force with force simply deflect the force.” “What do you mean?” a guard named Steadfast asked. “Be like water, here, charge me.” The guard charged him and when the guard was about to crash into him Reed dropped low, turned to the side a bit and shoved the guard. The Guard careened off to the side before he stumbled and fell. “That is what I mean, redirect your opponent’s energy away from you, flow with the attack, then you can strike them when they are unbalanced.” “That’s not very fair.” “No it isn’t, but the evil won’t be fair either. In addition you have the power to stop them without serious harm.” Similar scenarios followed, and more questions were asked as the guards learned the different types of combat. Over the next few days Reed taught them as best he could, how to subdue another without injury, incapacitate, and with great care, showed them how to injure. "If this evil is coming to kill all that is good, why aren't you showing us how to kill?" Quick Steel asked one day after a sparring session.Reed waited for the others to finish before answering Quick Steel's question. "Because of three main reasons, one to show you could be fatal, because I don't know how to translate these human fighting styles into pony fighting styles, and three in a way I already have shown you." the group look at him with a mixture of confusion and understanding. "What do you mean, you have already shown us?" Steadfast asked. "I mean if you take what I have already shown you and amplify your movements and aim to strike mortal blows you already know how to fight to kill, but please refrain from doing this unless absolutely necessary." The group nodded, and Reed sent them back to practice with their partners. Reed knew these guards were military, and that they all had training. But he felt responsible, because of what he was teaching was alien to them, at least the styles were. He didn't want them to accidentally use to much force and end up killing someone they were trying to subdue. Reed had them stop around mid-afternoon and most of the guards sat, almost collapsing to the ground. He had them go to the cafeteria where they got water, and at Reed’s direction, sat at a table away from the other guards not on duty. Reed sat with them, “Okay now that’s it’s been a few days, and you all have a good idea of the styles of I have shown you.Here’s the next part that I can teach you.” For the rest of the day Reed asked them about how they would handle different situations, then gave his answer. As the days went by the princesses had been able to have a tailor come by and look a set of Reed’s clothes, since then the tailor had made Reed three more sets of clothes. Reed offered to pay him once but he had declined, saying, “The princesses ask me of all ponies, the word of that alone has earned me much business. And thanks to you I could even start making clothes for other countries, and other races. No, I must be thanking you for this glorious opportunity!” Reed still felt that he owed the tailor, so when he wasn’t looking Reed slipped a luck charm with real magic, with a note into one of the tailor’s clothe bags. A new schedule was set up for Reed and his guards in training. In the morning they would run, then spar till noon. After a quick lunch reed would then talk, quiz, have them do puzzles on strategy, and to analyze all angles, view every option, and perhaps most important, how to, and practice resisting Solus’s influence.Reed did this by giving them impossible seniors, and adding twists at the last moment. This often left the guards frustrated, but Reed could see the progress. A few days ago he had stumped all of them, with a cornered hostage situation, and at the last moment had the hostage become the hostile villain, what had stumped them was the fact that the hostage faked their death and trapped the guards in a covered alley slowly filling with, magic resistant, poison gas. The blockage was too heavy to move and they only had thirty seconds to figure it out, there was always the option of surrendering to Solus, but that was the thing never to do. They group had failed the puzzle, “Your lucky this was only a story situation. We’ll try again tomorrow.” And they had got it the day after next. Reed was in the middle of setting up another story situation when a guard ran up, “The princesses request your presence immediately.”