"You want me to what?" Rainbow Dash was staring blankly down at her niece.
"Teach me karate! I know you're a black belt, and I want to learn!" At Rainbow's hesitation, Astral's lower lip trembled dangerously "pwease?"
Rainbow groaned, burying her face in her hooves. "Okay, but I have to warn you, I am not exactly a patient teacher." She began to clear the room of her and Pinkie's house, before turning to face her, and rearing up on her hind legs.
"Karate is almost always done on hind legs, so you're going to need to learn how to balance on two or even just one leg."
And I thought balancing on three hooves was hard, Astral thought as she toppled over for the tenth time in the past half an hour.
Rainbow sighed and helped her stand, before brightening considerably "I know! Pinkie!" At the sound of her name, Rainbow Dash's wife appeared in the doorway.
"Yes Dashie?"
"I'm trying to teach Astral karate, but she can't balance yet" Astral's ears flopped down in embarrassment "so I thought you could show her some things as well."
Pinkie's smile grew to unsettling levels, and she scooped Astral up without a second thought, tucking her under one hoof while she sprinted out of the room.
"Thanks Dashie!"
Rainbow stood alone in the room, before shaking her head slowly. "Good look kid" she muttered, grinning.
Astral only had two hours left before she had to go home, and was unsure what Pinkie Pie could teach her in that measly time frame, but she had her working down to the last second.
Turns out Pinkie knew parkour, and they spent those two hours practicing and revising moves for balance, agility and speed. She even showed Astral how to scale a flat, vertical wall. How cool was that?
By the time the two hours were up, Astral's body ached and she stumbled out the door, thanking Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie on her way out.
She sat on her bed, going over everything. If her magic was going to increase every loop, then she should at least build up some other ones as well.
Karate is actually pretty easy once you take away the whole balancing thing, she mused. It's like a routine.Same with Bladecasting. Parkour and fencing were going to take some more time but she had plenty of that.
As she picked up these skills, a goal was starting to form in her mind, and she scrambled to write it down.
Goals
She smiled down at the list, before shaking herself briskly. No playing around next loop, she told herself firmly.