August 19, 3095 Imperial Calendar (1522 AD)
Whitetail Woods, outskirts of Ponyville
DJ swung his wooden practice sword back and forth, waiting. He normally would've started practicing, but he was waiting. He finally stopped swinging it, driving the tip into the ground and laid on his back. As he tapped his claws against the side of the rock he laid on, he brought his thoughts to the source of his waiting, and by proxy, his frustration.
++++~++++
DJ thrust quickly, driving the wooden sword into the relatively thin tree. After another two jabs, he lowered his stance closer to the ground before slashing to the side. He raised himself back up, slashing again before thrusting back into the tree.
Behind him, he heard steps coming through the trees of his little clearing. A voice he recognized as belonging to Princess Flurry Heart said, "So, this is where you run off to after school, eh?"
"Yeah", he said, not even turning around, and kept in attacking the tree.
She snorted, saying, "What did that poor tree ever do to you?"
"You try bringing a five-foot pole across international borders along with all your other luggage."
"I have ponies for that. So, you're a gladiator, huh?"
"School team," he told her, still attacking the tree with rapid, fast attacks.
She walked up next to him until he could see her out of the corner of his eye. He still ignored her as best he could, but it was getting harder and harder. She then said, "Meaning you're a good fighter then, huh?"
"I like to think so. Why?", he asked.
She said, "Teach me."
He stopped, finally turning to look at her. "Huh?"
"You heard me", she said. "Teach me. Teach me how to fight."
"Why me? You're a Princess. Not only that, your father is an officer. So, why come to a Pryhan gladiator? Not even a professional one", he said.
She snorted before replying, "Because my parents are Suuuper overprotective. Like, 'lock-me-in-my-room-for-two-years' overprotective. That's not exaggerating or an analogy or anything; that actually happened. My dad won't teach me, and the guards don't want to incur his wrath. And I somehow doubt I can get one of the EUP soldiers or Night Guard's in the nearby outpost to help me. So, you're the best I got."
"Gee, thanks", he muttered, before cocking his head slightly. "Still, why me and not my brother? I imagine he's a better teacher than I am."
"Because your brother said you're the better up-close fighter than him. So, I want the one who can kick ass better teaching me to kick ass. Now, are you in, or not?", she demanded.
DJ turned the idea over in his head for a bit. On one paw, it would interfere with his practice a bit. However, on the other paw, depending on how well she did, he could have a proper sparring partner besides Depressi. And as much as he loved his brother, he was less than an ideal opponent. Eventually, the second paw won out.
"Meet me back here tomorrow at ten. Make sure you have a good deal of free time on your hooves. This is gonna take a long time for you to be proficient." She just smirked, nodded, and teleported away.
++++~++++
DJ looked over into the woods, seeing a few movements in the vegetation. Like yesterday, Flurry Heart entered the clearing, a look of determination on her face. She had eschewed her faux-leather jacket and silver gorget in exchange for pink elastic bands around her forehead and hooves. "Let's get started."
"You look ridiculous", DJ remarked.
She snorted, and replied, "Oh, shut up. Hand over a sword, and Let's get started."
DJ cracked a grin, sitting up and tossing her his training sword. She caught it in her magic aura, turning it over and examining it before dropping it into her hoof. "Little heavy, ain't it?"
"It's designed that way", DJ explained. "Builds up your muscle mass and helps with blade control. You can use that, you can use the regular gear that's about half the weight."
Flurry snorted, before flashing her own toothy grin. She began picked the sword back up into her aura, swinging it around idly. "So, which part of kicking somponies flank are you gonna teach me first?"
"First thing we will be teaching you is blade safety", he said sliding off the rock and walking over to her
Flurry looked confused. "Why the buck do I need to know this. I've handled a knife before."
"Pretty big difference between the two", he said, grabbing the blade out of her aura. "First of all, unless you're ready to fight, keep the blade in a safe position. By your side with the tip pointed at the ground in order to reduce potential damage if it's dropped, and poses less of a danger to those around you."
"Don't be a moron and pay attention. Got it", She said, her former grin changing into an annoyed glare. "Can we do something now?"
"You sure you understand?", DJ asked. "It's a rather important part."
"Yes! Now let's just get started!", She said, her annoyed glare shifting into a snarl.
"Ok." DJ slid off the rock and walked over to the tree he was at yesterday. As she got closer to him, he tapped the tree, pointing out a trio of horizontal cuts in the bark. He asked her, "See these groves?"
"Yeah", she said.
DJ said, "Alright, these sections represent different attack points on an opponent. Going high, you're attacking at the throat, the head, or the shoulders. The middle would be the chest or the joints. The bottom would be the legs. Now, I'll show you the 'at the ready' position, and we'll spend a while practicing drills."
"Why am I hitting a tree? Shouldn't I be facing an actual opponent? It's not like whoever I'm fighting would just stand there and take it", Flurry Heart groused.
DJ issued his own snort, before replying, "And it doesn't matter if you don't know how to block or parry if you can't at least perform some basic attacks. What, you thought you'd be a master by the end of a week?"
"No!", she said. "I just thought we'd be sparring. You know, actual moves and such."
"That comes later."
"When?"
DJ considered it, before saying, "Depends on your competency, but no sooner than three months."
Flurry yelled, "Three months!?"
"Yeah. And, if you suck, then upwards of four. Five at the very latest", he said, smirking at her expression.
"What kind of stupidity is this!?", Flurry exclaimed.
"Hey", he said defensivly. "I'm just following orders, Princeps."
She practically roared, "How in Celestia's mane can I learn how to fight by hitting a tree!? What kind of idiocy is this?"
DJ opened his beak to reply, before closing it with a click. "How about a wager, eh?"
Flurry asked, "What kind of wager?"
"Simple", he said, grabbing a large sturdy stick off the ground and giving it a few test swings. "Trial by combat. I win, you shut up and do as I tell you. You win, we'll jump right into advanced training where we spar and I take a more hands-on approach. No magic or flying. Deal?"
"Deal", she said, taking up a position across from him.
DJ pressed the stick to his shoulder in a Pryhan salute, before bringing it down to his side. Flurry saw an opening, going for his right side and galloped forward, swinging the practice sword down in a wide arc in attempts to catch him in a blind spot. DJ sidestepped and swung the stick, hitting her on the flank. They traded places, with DJ now bearing a wide grin on his face.
"What's the matter, Princeps?", he asked. "Too slow?"
Flurry let out an almost feral snarl before darting forward again, aiming to knock the sword out of his paw. He blocked before ramming his shoulder into her side. She went sprawling to the ground, mud staining her coat and workout bands. "Come on", he taunted. "That it, Princeps? The daughter of an officer; I'd have thought you would've had at least something. Or, are you too pampered to fight properly?"
She snarled, before swinging wildly at him. He ducked and backed away from her attacks, before finally shoving the stick up and striking her hoof. She dropped the sword, and he pressed it up against her neck, grinning as best as he could with a beak. "See what I mean, Princeps?"
"Stop calling me PRINCESS!", She roared, lighting up her horn and launching a spell at him. His eyes widened and sent him flying back, slamming into a tree and falling to the ground. He groaned and attempted to rise, but was stopped when her aura slammed into his wrist, pinning him."Now, I will be very clear. I don't want to be called Princess. I know you have an obsession with rank, but I don't care. Ok, let's put it this way. You like to follow orders like a dog? ...D-dj?"
DJ was ignoring her ranting, instead thrashing and whimpering. His eyes were wide, his blind one somehow even paler than normal. Flurry backed up, letting him go. She watched him in shock as he got back to his paws, breathing heavily.
After a second, his look of panic turned to one of burning fury. He grabbed the heavy stick, stormed over to her and knocked the practice sword out of her grip. He pushed her back at the end of the stick, snarling out, "What the flying fuck did I say!? No fucking magic!"
"I-I", She stammered.
DJ snorted, before throwing the stick away and sighing. "Well, it doesn't matter. You lost, so we do this my way. Got it?"
Flurry nodded, still a little shell-shocked. She picked up the sword again, heading over to the sapling. DJ walked up next to her, no longer steaming.
He said, "Look, I'm sorry. Just, don't do something like that again."
"Right", she said, recovering from the situation herself. "Hey, are you ok?"
He said, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't like being grabbed. Now, you ready?"
Flurry nodded, saying, "Yeah. Let's do this."
++++~++++
About two hours, the same actions were being done. Flurry Heart was hacking at the small tree, while DJ stood off to the side and gave her a few pointers. After another series of attacks on the tree, DJ said, "Ok. Let's take a break." He walked over to the rock and sat down, grabbing a canteen he had set down next to the rock.
As he took a swig, Flurry put down the sword and walked over, sitting down next to him. "Pass the water?", Flurry said.
"Just don't put your lips to it. Germs and shit", he said, passing it to her.
She did as he suggested, holding it above her mouth and letting the water fall into it. After a few seconds, she lowered the canteen and sighed. "You smear the tip of this thing in shit?", she quipped.
He replied back, "Only the highest quality!" The two of them burst out laughing, before DJ stopped and took another sip. He then asked, "Why do you want this so much?"
Flurry also stopped her giggling, and leaned back on the rock and sighed. "What do you mean?"
He said, "I mean, you're an alicorn. If anyone does attack you, you can just go 'Magic, Bitch!', and turn them inside out or something. Hell, you basically did that to me."
"Not the point."
He asked, "Then what is?"
Once again sighing, she explained, "Like I said yesterday, my parents are super overprotective. They don't let me do anything fun without being supervised and don't let me do anything even remotely dangerous. This is the first time I've been out of the Empire for more than a few months. This? Learning how to fight? This is the ultimate 'Up-yours' to my parents."
DJ's look shifted from curiosity to confusion. "'Up-Yours'?'
"It's a pegasi thing", she says. "You stick up your biggest flight feather and direct it at somepony you want to say 'Buck you' to. Apparently, it has something to do with some battle during the First Pryhan-Equestrian war or something. Some Pryhan officer threatened to shave off their flight feathers, and after the Equestrians kicked their flanks, they did it as a way of saying, 'Buck you'."
DJ laughed uproariously, before saying, "Alright, Princeps. Let's get back to work."