Never Lucky

by Ferris the 1st


Chapter 16: A Matter of Perspective

To my relief, the rest of my first day was to relax. Corium invited me to play chess and I learned very quickly that even when he was prattling on, his mind was extremely tactical. Fifty losses in a row was humbling experience, but he was a good sport about it and tried to help me understand the game a bit better. I could hear the rest of the group snickering at my expense, but I wasn't going to complain. The entire situation felt... normal in a way.

Agent Glass took off to somewhere without a word. Impact said that it was normal for her to do this, especially when she was stressed and that she'd be back by morning. When night finally came, we went next door to a large hotel. Like the kind that I couldn't afford even with months of savings, but the Royal Guard had rented us a couple of rooms; one for stallions and one for mares.

Impact, Corium, and I entered into our room and I immediately noticed a problem.

“Uh... Impact,” the pegasus looked at me, “there's only two beds.”

He snorted, “Yeah, well we weren't really prepared to have you with us, bud. You get to bunk with Corium tonight and we'll get another bed brought in tomorrow.”

Honestly, despite my hesitation, I'll admit that Corium wasn't a half bad snuggler, though I will never admit it willingly...

**

The dream came back that night, only this time I watched my reflection in the mirror. The image was of the gym and the earlier practice. The difference was that in the image, I was winning. Time and again, I saw my doppelganger defeat not just Cocoa, but all the members of Glass' team.

When it finally ended, my reflection turned and regarded me with a look of resentment...

**

I woke with a gasp, sitting straight up in bed and panting. A soft hoof on my shoulder made me jump and I whirled on Corium where he stood at the edge of the bed. He was looking at me with a worried frown as he levitated a cup full of liquid to me. I didn't even question it as I pulled it to me, realizing that whatever was inside was a hot drink.

I didn't care, the cup and the liquid were just something for me to focus on. I drank it. Hot chocolate. Something about the drink slowed my heartbeat, helping me calm down as Corium sat silently nearby, watching me.

I looked up at him, then away as I mumbled an apology. He waved off my apology with a hoof, “Nopony can feel guilty for having fear, Lucky. It's part of what makes you alive. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I wouldn't even know where to start.” I mumbled sullenly.

“At the beginning, I would assume.” he whispered with a light chuckle. Casting a glance at Impact's sleeping form, he gestured for me to follow him. Slipping from the bed, I allowed myself to be lead to the balcony overlooking the city and he closed the door leading to it so that Impact could sleep soundly.

Sitting on the balcony, I could only stare up at the moon for a long time. I wanted to talk, I really did, but I didn't know what was going on. With a sigh, I lowered my head and told him everything. All of the events leading up to being coerced into the guard and the things that happened after.

Finally we reached the dreams and my conversation with Dawn. He looked thoughtful as I recounted the aspects of both, tilting his head in thought. “Odd,” he mused aloud, “I was under the impression that your Princess Luna was drawn to such nightmares to put a stop to them...”

I hadn't thought about it. I'd had plenty of nightmares as a colt before her return to Equestria, so I suppose I just didn't expect things of her. I shrugged in response, “I mean, she is a princess. She must be busy all the time and she probably has her hooves full with the nightmares of fillies and colts.”

“Maybe,” he conceded after a moment before standing, “please excuse me, Lucky. I just remembered something I needed to discuss with Agent Glass,” he smiled at me, “try and get some rest, you've probably got a full day tomorrow between assisting our investigation and your training.”

I grunted in acknowledgment, but I spent a few more minutes staring at the moon before returning to bed...

**

The next day began much slower than I expected, and the sun had been up for an hour or so by the time I stirred. Blinking, I jumped out of bed, cursing to myself at my laxness and the plethora of insults that I was sure Glass would throw my way. In the end though, it was only a gentle laugh that greeted me.

Corium was standing near the door, two cups levitated in his magic. Floating one over to me, he came closer, “Relax. It's just you and me today. Glass decided that I should take over training you for today.”

I blinked, sipping at my cup. More hot chocolate, “Two things. One, are you qualified to train me? Two, what is it with you and hot chocolate?” My comment earned me a peal of laughter as he set his cup down on the nightstand.

“Well, starting with two, it's because chocolate is the closest thing I've found to physical love in Equestria. As to the first, don't you worry, I may not look it, but I'm more than capable,” he grinned, flashing a smile at me, “and when I'm through with you, so shall you be.”

“I guess one of us needs to believe in me.” I muttered sourly.

“You're right,” he said, his voice suddenly tense and serious, “and that one needs to be you, Lucky.” he jabbed me in the chest and I got a feeling that his chitin was actually much firmer than it appeared to be. Just as fast as it came, his stern look vanished back into a playful smile. Just watching him gave me whiplash.

“So, come! Drink your hot chocolate and let's go!” he called to me as he all but pranced his way to the door. I was a bit slower in moving as he lead the way back to the gym I'd seen the day before. I was expecting another round of pain when he lead me to the mats on the floor, but he merely gestured for me to stand next to him. Confused, I did so.

Smirking he explained, “There is one thing that Agent Glass and I disagree on when it comes to formal combat. She, and her subordinates, look to combat as a brutish thing that can only be mastered by repeated failures to teach you. I disagree.”

Without warning, Corium became a blur of motion. Dodging in rapid circles around me, he lashed out in three consecutive strikes. None of them hit, but judging by the ever-present smile on his muzzle, they weren't intended to. Each one brushed past me by the smallest of margins, the wind from all three playing over my fur.

Coming to a stop, he twirled, like actually twirled, his way back in front of me. Rolling his shoulders, he spoke, “changelings, as we were, did not possess the brute strength to bring down the average earth pony warrior. We did not possess the speed to outfly a pegasus and we most certainly did not have the magic to overpower a unicorn mage.”

I felt my flanks hit the mat as I sat in front of him. Corium was something of an artist with words, not by the use of extravagant words, but by the conviction with which each one was said. I felt like he was revealing to me one of the great secrets of the universe as he touched a hoof this his chest.

“What we possessed, Lucky Signs, was grace and adaptation. During the first invasion, we did not fight head to head with earth ponies, we fought around them, kept them guessing and flailing to catch us. We did not outfly the pegasi, we outsmarted them. We did not overpower the mages, we out-planned them. Our method of fighting... was more akin to a dance. Observe.”

He moved again, only this time his movements were slow and measured. With a sense of balance that would make an acrobat green with envy, Corium repeated the same motions he'd first done with lightening fast reflexes. Step by step he moved, circling me slowly and humming a soft tune under his breath.

In slow motion, it really did look like he was dancing.

“More often than not, Lucky Signs, a criminal who opposes you is confident enough to oppose somepony twice your size. They will crush you if they can,” his stern face had returned, “and there won't always be somepony to help you. Now... up. Follow along with me.”

He had to be kidding.

He wasn't.

He stared at me expectantly, waiting for me to mirror his first motion. I gave him a pleading look, not wanting to embarrass myself, but he didn't budge. Groaning, I rose up onto my hind legs and mirrored his stance, feeling a deep blush appearing on my muzzle.

He quirked his head to the side, “Not bad, not bad, but more like this.” Not waiting for permission, the hoovesy changeling grabbed at my limbs and back, aligning them in a way that just felt... odd, yet relaxed.

“Now, follow me. Move from this relaxed state into a straight jab. Left hind leg forward, twist, strike,” as he spoke he moved, staring at me until I followed suit, “now back, drift softly and bring your hoof back, curl back against the barrel. Reverse the twist and pull back the leg.”

Under his guidance, we simply practiced this move over and over and over for an hour. Asking him about it, he simply told me, “The movement must become instinctive. The body must move without direction from the mind. Your partner expects you to know the dance and you must not disappoint.”

He was one crazy bug....