//------------------------------// // Boot Camp Everfree // Story: Legend of Everfree: Another Story // by ArcanaMaverick7 //------------------------------// After Sunset Shimmer managed to convince the Rainbooms (sans Twilight) that they should embrace their newly acquired magical abilities, the members of Fragment Hunter brought the girls from Canterlot High to the area of camp that Terracotta and Ventus had finished setting up for teaching combat lessons. When the group arrived, they saw more students joining the activity. When enough people joined, Terracotta looked at everyone with a stern glare before shouting in a matching voice. "Welcome to Boot Camp Everfree, maggots!" Hearing Terracotta's change in tone, most of the teenagers were surprised when they compared it to his usual tone. Rather than the more friendly man they knew from earlier, the Bull Faunus now sounded like a drill instructor for soldiers. Looking over at the unflinching Fragment Hunter, the Rainbooms spoke to the young warriors. "Is your dad always this hardcore when it comes to training," Rainbow Dash asked Azalea. "Yes," all of Fragment Hunter immediately answered as they remembered all of their training with Terracotta at Beacon Academy. "I still remember his first lessons with us," Rua said as she looked away from the CHS students. Sunset Blaze winced at the memory of how he finished his battle with her, Team SAFR, and Team SLVR. "He hits like a freight train," she muttered to herself. "Now, you'll all be taught how to fight against anybody or anything that's trying to kill you," Terracotta stated after he went on a typical drill instructor speech. "Whoever has previous combat experience, step to the side," he told the campers who volunteered to join the combat lessons. Seeing several of them move, including Bon Bon, Flash Sentry, and Lyra Heartstrings, Terracotta turned his attention to the Rainbooms. "Now then, the six of you will be getting special training from myself, Ventus, and the members of Fragment Hunter." As the girls began to look apprehensive about the training already, Fluttershy meekly raised her hand and caught Terra's attention. "Um... I'm not comfortable with violence, Sir," she managed to say to the Huntsman. But rather than yelling at her like the act he was putting on would imply, Terracotta's expression softened as he looked at Fluttershy. "That's why I have a special training plan for you," Terra said in a gentle and fatherly tone which seemed to put Fluttershy at ease. When he finished speaking to her, his stern glare and voice returned as he addressed the other Rainbooms. "The rest of you will be covered in blood, sweat, and tears when my students are finished with you!" "Excuse me. I don't mean to be rude, but I'd rather not get any blood on my outfit," Rarity stated as she faced Terracotta in a way that showed off her clothes. "I designed it myself and it took me quite a wh-" "TOUGH SHIT, SEWING MACHINE," Terracotta yelled in Rarity's face, messing up her hair as she flinched at the sudden interruption. Rarity was shocked at Terracotta's screaming, but fixed up her hair before turning to her friends. "He was so nice before..." "Yeah, Dad likes to put on this act sometimes," Azalea told the Rainbooms. "He usually did it with me when I was training with him before attending Beacon. He doesn't do it as often anymore, though." "Admittedly, it's kind of fun," Terracotta said as he broke character briefly. "Now, you'll be separated based on your 'skill sets' and trained by the correct member of Fragment Hunter," he told the Rainbooms before listing who would train with who. "Sewing Machine, you'll be training with Celadon. The two of you can work on those magic diamonds of yours," he said to Rarity. "Sunset 1 and Sunset 2, you'll train together. Azalea, you help out Applejack. Rainbow Hair will be training with Ventus while Candy Hair trains with whoever will help her out. The rest of you will be helping the other campers," Terracotta stated. Getting their assignments, the campers all separated and went on to start their training with each other. As they did, Fluttershy and Terracotta began to train. "W-what are we going to do," the pink-haired animal lover asked the Huntsman. "Striking at something isn't the only way to defend yourself," Terracotta stated. "You'll be forced to face off against opponents that are much larger and stronger than you. However, you can use that against them with the proper training. I'll teach you how to defend yourself without harming your opponent too much." Getting himself in a defensive stance, Terra turned to Fluttershy and gestured for her to try and make physical contact with him. Demonstrating what to do, the warrior taught Fluttershy to defend herself with techniques similar to Judo and Aikido. As the combat lessons continued, the campers were getting into the training. While some struggled such as Fluttershy, others adapted to the training and got better. However, some of the students were naturals and were able to fight just as well as the visitors from Remnant. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were two of the best students when it came to their lessons as Azalea was able to help AJ control how much of the latter's new strength was needed, while Ventus was able to help Rainbow Dash use her super speed. Sunset Shimmer was getting lessons in swordplay from her doppelganger from Remnant as they watched the progress of everyone. "Applejack and Rainbow Dash seem to be getting the hang of their powers," Shimmer remarked as she saw Rainbow Dash sparring with Ventus as they stopped racing around with their abilities. "Yeah," Blaze agreed as she saw Rainbow Dash manage to punch Ventus in the jaw. "Let's see how well," she said as her jacket began to glow when she used the Fire Dust in her favorite article of clothing. With a wave of her arm, Sunset Blaze created a ring of flames around Rainbow Dash. When she saw the flames appear, Rainbow Dash saw Sunset Blaze looking in her direction and snap her fingers. Immediately running away from the flames before the space in the circle of fire detonated, Rainbow Dash wasn't paying attention to Ventus and the Falcon Faunus managed to kick her into the lake. Hearing the splash, everyone stopped and looked at Rainbow Dash returning to dry land. Spitting out water, Rainbow Dash sped over to Sunset Blaze and got in the girl's face. "What the heck!? Why did you do that," Rainbow Dash screamed. "In a real fight, there's no such thing as cheating. Only survival," Blaze stated. "Hell, if we didn't choose to hold back our abilities, Crystal Prep would've ended up in the hospital for the rest of their time at that school," Rua stated as she teleported next to Rainbow Dash. "She's right," Celadon said. "If you had put together a fencing match when we participated, a few of us would've likely made them bleed." "Probably Blaze," Azalea remarked. Sunset Blaze only shrugged as a reply, which scared the CHS students a bit. "That would've been harsh," Applejack said. "Deserved, but harsh." "Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. "They were jerks, but they didn't really need to get hurt badly. Pride, maybe. Bodies, definitely not." "Speak for yourself," Rua retorted. "Given the chance, I would've broken their bodies and their spirit." "Alright. I think that's enough training for today," Terracotta said after Fluttershy managed to follow his instructions and flip him onto his back with the proper technique. "We should get started on repairing the dock more." "Yes, sir," everyone replied as they listened to Terracotta. With their powers under control, the Rainbooms were able to continue working on their gift to Camp Everfree. They even used their magic to their advantage as Pinkie used her ability to detonate sprinkles, making holes in wood that would be used for building a bench. Rainbow Dash then used her speed to build the bench while Pinkie painted it. Working together, they were able to complete their work in record time while the others started hanging signposts for the dock. As Flash Sentry, Bulk Biceps, and a few other students worked to put up one post with effort, Applejack used her super strength to easily carry and plant the second post with one arm. Everyone watched in shock at AJ's strength aside from Azalea and Terracotta, who helped steady the posts and drive them into the ground. "That was easy," Applejack said as she took a bit of an apple she carried in her other hand. "Labor like this really is when you're strong," Terracotta remarked as he made sure the signposts were stable. "But, you can't be reckless all the time." As Rarity painted some feed boxes with some members of Fragment Hunter, she looked out to the lake and saw Derpy was losing balance on the sailboat she was on. Before the girl could falling into the water, Rarity acted fast and sent one of her diamond shields toward her classmate to catch her. "Close call," Rarity said as Derpy gave a thumbs up to the other student in the boat. After putting all the finishing touches on the dock, the Rainbooms stood at the end of it as Fragment Hunter and the other CHS campers marveled at the sight of their completed work. "Okay, that was pretty awesome," Rainbow Dash admitted after they looked at everything. "And look what you managed to accomplish," Sunset Shimmer said as she pointed out the dock. "Please, please, please can we do a run-through for the fashion show on it right this minute," Rarity begged. "I thought that you weren't finished with the stitching on your poncho," Applejack remarked as she leaned against a post. Grabbing the poncho she was working on earlier, Rarity added one final stitch she needed to do. "I am now," Rarity bragged as she completed her work. "Get started without me," Sunset Shimmer told the girls as she started to leave. "I've gotta go find Twilight. Seeing what we've been able to do here might make her embrace the new magic, too! Uh, not that she has any." "I'll come with you," Azalea said as she joined Sunset Shimmer. "Alright then, see you girls soon," Rarity called out as the two left. "In the meantime, I'll just get the ensembles for everyone ready."