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// 7-This Is Where The Training Montage Would Be  Pt. III 
// Story: Deadly Love 
// by ShadowblazeCR 
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I woke up to a ding coming from my nightstand. Assuming it was what I was hoping for, Rainbow Dash had finally texted me about Quibble Pants. It wasn't immediately evident, considering I took a minute to get out of my comfy stupor. Dragging myself off to the side of the bed, removing myself from the coveted big spoon position with Octavia, might have been the hardest thing I had done in months. It was nice to wake up to having a special someone in my arms, I had to note. The ability to play off copping a feel like I was hugging did add a nice perk to sleeping together too. 

Eventually, I made it to the phone. Lo and behold, through my squinted eyes I found the text I had been waiting for. A message from Rainbow Dash, the all mighty Headmaster of the Wonderbolt Academy had told me to meet her in an hour to discuss how the training with Octavia went and her future training with Quibble Pants.  It wouldn't take long I hoped, maybe I would even be able to be back before Octavia woke. Just in case, so I wouldn't have to hear about it later more so, I left a sticky note on her forehead giving the five W's (who, what, when, where, why) for any future inquiries. 

Sadly, it wasn't casual Friday, just Hump Day Wednesday currently. So, going pant-less with a large t-shirt over everything was going to be a no go. I had gotten away with it once in my early days as a cadet in the Shadowbolt Academy, only having a couple of my close friends keep the embarrassing knowledge to themselves.  Today was going to be a simple white crew neck t-shirt and green hoodie with some cargo shorts. I didn't expect much to happen, so I slipped a concealed M9 Barretta onto my waist. Enough people around the academy should know by now that I wasn't going to make trouble, unless I had to that was. Rainbow Dash had likely sat down all the instructors and told them what was up, or if she was smart enough to realize the gripes of "this could have been an email", she would have told everyone through some other means. 

I took one last glance at Octavia's sleeping face, and body, to have something to think about on the drive over. The show needed to get on the road, and I was itching to take on some missions. The last few months of training had felt like literal years. Sure, maybe it was just me being hyperbolic with the time, or I just worked at a different speed because of how long I had to be working at a heightened awareness. With just Quibble Pants to go on the docket, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and it was looking bright. Quibble came with good recommendations, and a little bias from Rainbow Dash.  I couldn't wait to get some new dirt on Rainbow Dash, Quibble Pants had to have hung around her enough with their spicy relationship to give me something good. 

Ponyville wasn't far at all from the Wonderbolt's Academy, really a hop and skip away. I wasn't going to admit it anytime soon, but the campus was far more impressive and scaled than the Shadowbolts. While the Shadowbolts were all about efficiency, the Wonderbolts were about history, grandeur, and all around impressive. Over in Canterston, the Shadowbolt Academy was centered around the training field and area that the whole academy used. Almost all events that were used to properly prepare trainees for their future assassinations were in the literal center of campus. Their buildings were sturdy, white simple square castle-like buildings. A top down view of most of their buildings were a simple, or slightly convex square with turrets at every corner. The barracks that housed all trainees and assassins were exactly that, a four turreted open center building with a checkered concrete courtyard. Each barracks held approximately four to five hundred personnel and had four floors. It was a far cry in quality compared to the Wonderbolt's Academy. 

The campus covered so much ground compared to the Shadowbolts that it sat in its own point on the map, next to one of the major rivers that flowed from Ponyville and the surrounding area. The campus reminisced of the castles in Germany that could be seen from miles across the river. The hand-placed stone architecture was a far cry from the drab, plain white concrete of their rivals. Each building was unique and each room held their own space saving tricks. Though bunk beds were just as prominent in the rooms for their cadets, unlike the Shadowbolts, the bed was lifted up to provide a reasonable amount of storage space. To be a bit corny, I felt like I was in Harry Trotter. 

Their dining hall, the same. The building types, the same. I had been told that the whole Academy ate family style at one time, at least once a day, just like the movies. Word would never get out that I was in awe of the campus, and honestly was looking forward to working in it when lulls in field work came along. Everything but the placement, a very secluded mountainous region compared to a cityscape with the Shadowbolts, beat out the latter.  I had to admit, I became way too comfortable with the place way too quick. I'll chalk it off to my adaptability to my environment, that should be fine. 

In my Applewood stupor, I had finally arrived at Commander Dashie's office. She was exactly where I'd left her from last time, toiling away at her desk. But this time, she looked a little less moody and a little more excited. Her perkiness was noticeable from the doorway, and I wasn't going to let it be. "Sup, Dashie. What's got you lookin' like a meerkat on the lookout for its predator?"

"Well my dear Scratchie, as you probably could have discerned from my text, Quibble Pants is going to be back today." Rainbow Dash did a very unprofessional twirl in her office swivel chair. "And we haven't done anything for the past couple months. He wasn't even able to bring anything to contact him, I mean our way of knowing that he was okay was smoke signals!"

"That doesn't sound very practical." I commented. "Y'all don't have any like covert burner phones? Ya know, those good 'ol flip phone ones that everyone says we're destroying the environment with."

Rainbow Dash sighed, "Yeah, well this one was a complete immersion kind of deal. The man had to build complete trust and we had to trust that he would get the job done. He's very attached to his 'field craft' as he likes to put it. Says no assassins use it anymore, trust their gadgets too much."

I shrugged, "Eh, I understand what he's getting at. All our equipment and such can be crutches if we rely on them too much. Honestly, I'm glad that Quibble Pants will be teaching Octy. It sounds like he won't just teach his techniques but can explain to Octavia the why behind it, ya know?"

"Right, how has everything been going by the way? Or officially, what's your at least twenty percent biased report say?" Rainbow Dash chuckled at her old one-liner. 

"Well, ignoring the shivering cringe that I just felt through my whole body from hearing what I had hoped to stop hearing after you were done with the Six. I mean come on, I thought you just did that to get AJ on edge." I replied, running a hand through my hair. "If I had to summarize, pretty good. She's gotten the gunplay, for lack of a better description, down. Neon Lights helped me out with some good hands-on training for her. He's a Ponyville local, you might've heard of him." 

Dash leaned back in her chair, slamming her legs all uncouthly on her desk. "Actually, I have. Thought it was interesting a mission of ours was accepted by someone that wasn't a Wonderbolt. I mean, its technically not against anything, we just don't have much friends outside these walls especially in the business we're in. One meeting later with Lily Heart to make sure everything was okay, I approved it. And seeing how smitten she was with the dude, I trust her to make the decisions she needs to make to keep them alive." 

"Do all missions have to go through you before the assassins can attempt them?" I asked, curious about another difference between our academies. 

"The job didn't come with the perk of being able to disseminate the important things, I'll tell you what. Every mission, D to triple S has to go through me." Rainbow Dash eyed the mound of paperwork on the corner of her desk. "Face level, it's a good idea. I essentially get an light knowledge of everything anyone is doing in representation of the academy. But man does it add a assload of paperwork that takes the momentum out of me wanting to do my actual job. I'm essentially living my glory days by proxy through the assignments I see." 

I chuckled, "I can see the glory days are far behind you, the Botox is a little easier to see though." Avoiding a pencil thrown at me as a rebuttal, letting it stick into the wall deep enough for just the eraser to poke out, I continued. "Anywho, Tavi also got some training from Rara. Should know how to blend in and effectively use anything y'all will give her. All that's left is Quibble Pants giving whatever training he decides and she should be battle ready." 

Rainbow Dash clapped her hands together, "Sweet, I'll text you when he's ready. I know Ponyville is still a good twenty minute drive from here, so if you wanna hang around you can."

I waved the notion off, "Nah, we've only got my Jeep. I'll just go back and grab Octy, get her warmed up."

"Don't tire her out too much, I need Octavia to be properly ready for him. Try to keep it mouth to mouth alright?" Dashie winked, shooing me out of the room. "Get along then, I'll just continue to wallow that I only get to see the girls once a month now." 

I shook my head, snorting at the comment. "Dude, Twilight is literally like a stone throw away. And I'm pretty sure you can have Pinkie Pie materialize by saying 'cupcake'."

"Where?!" A voice said calmly in the hallway.  

Rainbow Dash and I looked at each other, knowing who the voice likely belonged to. I gave Dash the look. She cocked an eyebrow. Opening the door to her office, I was greeted by the aforementioned Pie of Pinkies. "'Sup Pinkster, come here for what I think you're here for?" 

Pinkie Pie stood in the doorway, bouncing up and down enough that her face disappeared over the door frame. "Of course silly, I can't resist cupcakes! Plus, I can't make you a liar could I now?" 

I giggled, "That's true I guess. Sorry to disappoint you, but I don't have any cupcakes. Were you in the area? Doin' some mission I'm guessing."

"Yeah!" Pinkie replied. She came close and whispered into my ear, "Honestly, I have no idea if I'm on a mission and if so what I'm supposed to be doing."

"Uh," I whispered back, "Shouldn't you know something like that?"

Pinkie Pie looked back and forth, almost like she thought there was a fourth person in the room. "Well, it hasn't been written yet, so how can I know?" 

"Riiight, well, I gotta get going back home. Octavia is probably waking up now, and she's got another big couple weeks or however long ahead of her." I scooted out to the hallway, "Pinkie, why don't you supply Rainbow with a cupcake. I think she really needs one with all the paperwork she's been doing." 

Pinkie Pie gasped, "What a great idea! It's okay Dashie, I'll save you from the monotony of this cruel environment!" 






Just like Rainbow Dash had said, it only took about twenty minutes to get back home. I walked in the door, taking in the aroma of tea and coffee making love in the air.  Practically floating like a cartoon character, I made my way into the kitchen, hoping to see what I was expecting. And what did greet me was a visually stimulating dream. Thankfully I knew I was awake, considering most of the day had happened, otherwise I could have sworn I was dreaming. The sunlight of the sun that had risen hours ago silhouetted Octavia at the kitchen counter, who currently was reliving the tea she had made of its packet. 

Her body was accentuated by the blue booty shorts that were pushed inward by her full cheeks, and her abs from the hard training gleamed in the light. I trailed my eyes from the lithe form, noting the way the skin showed its silk-like features in the light, and the toned forearms that she had developed. Her top was covered, if it could be considered so, by a thin and loose grey deep u-neck sports bra looking top. Inspecting it once I got closer, I realized it wasn’t a sports bra, but a cut tank top held together by a zipper in the front. The zipper was half-zipped, revealing more cleavage. I resisted the urge to take it in between my teeth and unzip the rest, I had to commend Rara for the improved fashion sense. My journey along Octavia’s body finished with a Wonderbolt themed baseball cap that sat atop her head, filtering a simple ponytail through the back. 

“Lookin’ good there Octy, I don’t think I would have won our first fight if I’d seen you in this. Rara taught you well.” I pressed a kiss on the corner of her mouth, “I mean, I probably still would have won. I am pretty awesome.” 

Octavia gave me a half-hearted smack on the shoulder, “Of course dear, I agree. Now, may I hear any of the updates you received from Headmaster Dash?”

We sat down at the table, sipping on our coffee and tea respectively. I filled her in on the small talk we had, nothing much had happened and so the conversation finished quickly. It turned to discussing whatever topic we could think of to fill the silence, eventually causing us to gravitate to the couch. With Octavia snuggled into my side, I took a second to yet again appreciate my situation that I had been dealt with. Just a few years ago I was in the Middle East, running around with the Deadly Six, killing Equestria’s Most Wanted and coming back to HQ every day considering how close I was each time to not coming back. 

Miss Jelavic and the girls were great aquaintances and friends, but there was a void that grew larger every mission. The stress and little knowledge of the future enclosed my thoughts and constrained them to a thin, long tunnel. I had viewed that dark path as an end filled with my head chopped off and dragged through the street, or being burned and hung from the bridges, nothing even close to what I felt now. Octavia had given me a new path, a yellow brick road to a life and retirement filled with maybe a kid or two, and some nice lakeside property. 

Our time that included real bonding and relationship building was coming to an end for the foreseeable future, at least in the easy way that had occurred over the past few months. The missions that we would go on could surely put the relationship on the cliff, a single shake causing it to literally fall apart. I had no real worries, just an intuition at the hardships we would face. There was a reason that the Deadly Six had chosen to go their separate ways, only meeting once a month. Their notoriousness attracted a pull of literal evil their way, a weekly smattering of new villains of the world and city-wiping weapons and plans that they worked to stop. 

Soon, they had found out that it was better they spread their skills individually and helped in their own way. The Six only came together when absolutely necessary, and thankfully that hadn’t been the case in a few years. I could only hope that the Octavia and I didn’t have to be fated for the same. Actually, we wouldn’t be, I made the decision. We wouldn’t need to even consider the option, because we would always find a way to get through it. 

My left pocket buzzed, a text from Rainbow Dash received altering me. Quibble Pants was around twenty minutes out from the academy, meaning Octavia and I had to get going. Didn’t want to keep our last trainer waiting. I looked over to Octavia, who was peering at my phone with a questioning pose, “Alright Octy, time to finish up your training. Should be able to have Rainbow Dash sign off your certification for Apprentice Assassin after this.”

The Wonderbolt Academy held multiple levels of assassins, all the way from students to a few Master Assassins. Including the principle, a Hyper Lethal level Assassin. Only five officially held this title among assassins. Princess Cadence of the Crystal Academy, Princess Luna of the Shadowbolt Academy, Princess Celestia of Everfree Academy, Princess Twilight Sparkle of the Wonderbolt Academy, and likely a couple other unknowns. Hyper Lethal status was obtained by the unrivaled skill and ability to potentially destabilize and wipe whole cultures and countries off the planet. Alone, any of them could change the world stage and who sat atop it. 

The hierarchy of assassins was pretty simple though, it began with students. These students were attending any of the academies, learning the skills needed to become Trainees at their respective schools. While Trainees, they would be assigned a mentor, a Knight level or higher assassin to oversee their training individually. After completing training, they would become an Apprentice Assassin. With this they were able to begin missions ranked E to D, simple assassinations or jobs that they could complete while overseen by their mentor. 

Eventually, once they had completed around fifty E ranked, or twenty-five D ranked missions they would be considered for Assassin. Where they would finally be on their own, though still able to partner up to complete missions they were cleared for. At this point they could go after D and C ranked missions that held some weight. Waivers and teaming up at this point allowed for attempting higher level missions. Assassins were considered able to compete against company sized elements on their own at this point.

To make it from Assassin to Knight Assassin, a committee of Knights had to consider and recommend the Assassin for it. This could come from completing a large amount of missions, having a hand in completing some higher level missions than their allowed rank, or anything else that was taken into consideration. Once they were a Knight Assassin, Captain Assassin was the first introduction to the big shots. Captains were in charge of a squad of Knights at times and covered missions ranking from B to A on the board. And alone are considered skilled enough to destabilize and take down whole armies. 

Lastly, once they’ve completed a reasonable amount of missions and had done at least one S ranked mission on their own, they were instated to the rank of Master Assassin. Less than fifty current Master Assassins were scattered around the world, not counting retired or MIA ones that were off grid, like Neon Lights for example. I had taken down a small nation with some dictator that was dead set on nuking their surrounding nations, nothing too hard, but there had been some close calls I could have avoided if I had been alone. 

My soon to be Apprentice assassin stretched and got up from the couch we sat atop, bringing me out of my expositional stupor. “Well, shall we get going, big day ahead yes?”

“Weeks really, unless we’ve got a genius martial artist on our hands.” I ruffled Octavia’s hair, “And as much as I’m proud of you Octy, I have to say that we’re going to need this training with Quibble Pants to really get you ready. You’re a third-rate pimp with a fourth-rate pimp slap if you catch my drift.”

Octavia opened her mouth for a rebuttal, shutting it shortly after. “I suppose in some roundabout way you are not spouting falsities. Which means we need to get going to this Quibble Pants, I must continue training.”

Within thirty minutes, we stood in some workout clothes facing Quibble Pants in the Wonderbolt Academy’s mat room. Quibble Pants was an interesting fellow, a Master Assassin specializing in dozens of different styles of martial arts. Allegedly he earned the status using the touch of death on his target, and their special forces attachment, and their regular army, and probably a few more things and people to make the story become somewhat of a legend. 

He stood at a solid six feet, built lean and minimal body fat from the hardships of the trade. His black hair was stained with grey stripes, likely from the stress he’d put his body through considering he was my age. He wore simple cargo shorts and a wife beater, looking like a A-list adventure movie star. I could see why Rainbow Dash had taken a liking to him, he gave off a know-it-all vibe because, well, he did know it all. Anything to do with martial arts at the least. 

“Okay Octavia, as I’m sure that the other Assassins that have conducted training with you have done, we’re gonna have a quick bout.” Quibble Pants moved to one of the circles on the mat. “So get some stretches in and lets get to it.”

Octavia did as he instructed, moving soon after to face him on the other side of the circle. “I suppose there might be some stipulations to this fight?”

“‘Course, I can’t have you getting hurt too much. We only have a limited time till I have to go on another mission. So these next few weeks are going to be quick and packed with lessons.” He positioned himself appropriately, perpendicular to Octavia, a hand behind his back and the other arm outstretched toward her. “The rules are simple, three strikes to me and I’ll concede that you need no training and we’re done. Survive for the five minutes of this bout and the same will apply. No street rules like titty punches or nut shots and the like, but any other means or arts are allowed. If its truly your style, even the drunken arts are permitted.”

I laughed, “You won’t have to worry about that man, Tavi is too much of a saint to hold her liquor. I’ve tried here and there I promise.”

Octavia huffed, “Enough of this, shall we Mr. Quibble?”

Quibble Pants chuckled, gesturing the famous symbol for her to attack, “We shall, give it your best. I expect within the minute to have you unconscious. Do your best to break that expectation.”

Octavia took it a little to heart, I could see the fact in her first attack. A sloppy feint and subsequent kick toward Quibble’s chest. He easily caught her foot, moving to push her back with his superior weight class. She seemed to realize this and pushed off with her planted foot, twirling into another kick with it and knocking Quibble in the fake. Octavia landed neatly, backing up quickly before Quibble could retaliate. 

Quibble Pants grinned, “Good, I like the fire in your eyes. Control it and we might have something.” 

Before Octavia could even bring her arms up Quibble had swayed quickly side to side, hunched over in a boxing form, and closed the distance she had set. He used pure kinetic energy and physics to pound her raised forearms, filling her future with aching bruises. Her frame was enveloped by his and she slithered away after a good dozen hits. Octavia ran toward Quibble, cartwheeling to give momentum and flipping into a front flip after a few spins. A leg slammed down on the mat, Quibble already having moved to doge her attack. 

Pivoting, Octavia attempted a roundhouse kick to make up for her miss. It came up empty, while Quibble Pants simply leaned backward and let it sail past. A few hits on the leg as it traveled left Octavia limping, she was on the losing end of momentum she had gained from the first hit. And it showed in the trailing hits and kicks from Quibble, to include the grapple position he had put her in after. Worn down, Quibble had slid in kicking the back of her knee to bring her to the ground and wrapping her in a chokehold. 

His muscles tensed somewhat arousingly if I could put it in the best description. I would be biting my lip if I didn’t care about my pairing with Octavia. It wasn’t a romance story with him, no matter who was shipping. “Nice try Octavia, you got one good lick in at least.” 

Octavia didn’t respond, having lost too much air and passed out from the choke hold. Quibble Pants let go and laid her on the ground, “Alright then Vinyl, she didn’t meet either of the goals set. But I will say it's not the worst I’ve seen. She isn’t too bad for a trainee. I think I’ve got an idea of what to do these next few weeks. Let's get her some water and after a break we can start the lessons.”

The lessons began after the break, just like Quibble Pants said. The three weeks were divided into phases. The first would be teaching Octavia about the basics of the styles and arts Quibble had chosen, giving a good base for the next weeks. The second would be based on advanced techniques and how to combine them. The third would be filled with sparring and application of the lessons that he had taught her. I was confident in Octavia, she was a quick learner and was going to do well. If not for the sake of reaching her goal, but at least for plot. 

Octavia was giving her all, steadily improving each day of the first week. Every day ended with a bout, giving Quibble Pants the new benchmark that allowed for him to decide the training for the next day. It wasn’t long until he was giving real compliments, not hollow ones that were just there for positive reinforcement. I didn’t participate much in the trainings, knowing that while I was likely on par with Quibble for hand to hand, I wanted to give Octavia and him the most time and best focus on their goals. 

At the end of the fourth day of the first week I asked Octavia a question after handing her a Nalgene, “How has everything been going?”

“Swell, if I must say love. This is quite the workout for me, Rara and Neon gave it to me easy.” Octavia swiped her hand across her forehead, wiping the sweat off. “I cannot complain, however, the training value from this is extremely useful.” 

My heart warmed with pride. I was excited to see her constant improvement in the last months, and the training was coming to an end. Thankfully, Octavia had been up to the task. “Great, ready for tomorrow? I think Quibble is gonna begin to teach some more complicated stuff.” 

“As ready as I can be,” Octavia stretched out her whole body, I tried to not pay attention to how good she looked in the short shorts and the sports bra top. “A nice cuddle would properly rejuvenate me, might you know where I could find one?”

I smiled, “Oh do I? Trust me, I know just the place.” 

The cuddle and follow up make-out session proved to be rejuvenating as Octavia had mentioned. The latter half of the first week of training held just as much as the former, with Octavia improving at a steady pace. Her improvement was evident at the final bout of the week. This time she landed two hits on Quibble Pants before getting knocked out by a pinch to the back of the neck from some foriegn technique with some nomads and earth people combo he mentioned. 

A couple days into the second week and Octavia had hit a small wall. Nothing concrete, or brick for that matter, but a simple wooden structure that was hindering her progress. The advanced techniques required certain acrobatics and steady motion that she didn’t have completely. Quibble figured this out by the third day and modified his lesson plan to cover the cons that Octavia was developing. Within the day, she had broken through her barrier.
 
By the end of the second week, Octavia was on a completely different level than she had begun at. She wasn’t getting knocked out cold by Quibble during their sparring matches, and her ability to demonstrate the wax on and wax off technique was immaculate. It had been exciting to see the quick improvements and what happened when something finally clicked. There was no way that by the end of their time there she wouldn’t be ready for whatever awaited them on their first mission.

 During the latter half of the last week, after a major lesson in the acrobatics and increasing Octavia’s flexibility, Quibble announced that they would have a final bout to decide if she was truly prepared to be released into the world of assassins. I could tell that she was a little nervous, but after a quick kiss on the cheek before she met Quibble Pants on the mat I saw her confidence return. Her posture straightened and she gave her neck a crack, moving to meet in the middle. 

The two gave each other a neat bow, and the fight began. Octavia made the first move flipping forward with a cartwheel, jumping into an overhead kick after lifting off with both feet slamming into the ground. Quibble Pants redirected the kick to his left, but Octavia was quick and used the momentum from her foot hitting the ground to turn the missed attack into a roundhouse kick into his shoulder. Quibble grunted at the hit, not backing up, instead he moved forward swaying back and forth. He scrunched forward in a boxers stance, arms tight and head low, attempting to use his pure weight and size to win. 

A few jabs and swings put Octavia on the defensive, as one hit could cause an instant knockout. She ducked left and right, using a chance of his arm getting close to grab it and use his momentum and the weight behind it to fling him over her shoulder. He did just that, but twisted and pulled her close, elbowing her in the face and a few times after that. Only until she landed a triple hit on him by kicking his leg, then chest, and face to push off and flip out of the way did her face get any chance to recover. 

Octavia ran forward while Quibble was stunned, kicking the middle of his knee to cause him to fall to a knee. She used the knee as a stepping stool, pressing off of it to gain some air and slam a kick into his chest. Landing proudly, she kept her feet moving side to side shuffling enough to keep ready in case he got back up. Which Quibble did, demonstrating a perfect kick-up without hands, and promptly going straight into a full-spun backflip to where he slammed his whole leg onto Octavia. 

She fell to the ground with a thud, possibly having a fracture in the shoulder that was hit from the pain it looked like she was experiencing. But she didn’t give up, going from a back-spin to her feet. Octavia rushed Quibble, enacting a last ditch effort before the pain enveloped her. A quick feint or two caught him off guard enough to slip behind. With all her strength she did something I had always wanted to see; a german-suplex straight out of a WWE highlight clip. And luckily it had landed him outside the circle for their fighting.

Collapsing on the ground in a huff, Octavia raised a fist in victory. I clapped, and gave a woot to show my elation. After a short moment, I moved over to Quibble Pants to check on him. He was contently laying, grinning up at me. I chuckled and helped him up, then giving Octavia a hand too. The first to comment on the fight, I directed my voice at the two, “That was awesome y’all. Can’t believe you got ‘em Octy, I was hoping for a few good licks. Not literally, otherwise I’d be a little concerned. But this was phenomenal, I know for sure you’re ready for your first mission. Thoughts on that Quibble?”

Quibble Pants rubbed the back of his neck, likely trying to remove the knots from Octavia’s suplex. “That was a good fight Octavia. I haven’t had someone put me on the ropes like that in years. Hopefully you’ll be back soon, I’d like to rematch. And maybe this time I won’t underestimate how much you picked up on what I taught you.”

Octavia smiled, “I would be honored Quibble. Do not fret, I do not expect to win any easier than I did today when the time comes.” 

I wrapped my arm around Octavia’s shoulders. “Well, I guess we should get going, Octavia and I need to report to Princess Twilight for a meeting tomorrow. So, I need her to get some rest so she doesn’t fall asleep standing in front of the Princess.”

A half hearted salute came in response from Quibble, “Of course, I guess I should get back to Rainbow Dash too. We have a meeting too coming up I need to get ready for.”

I winked at him, “Right, a meeting. Gotcha bud, I’ll be sure to pester her about it the next time I see her. She’s a catch ya know, don’t forget.”

“Trust me,” Quibble Pants chuckled, “She doesn’t let me.”

Octavia and I laughed, saying our final goodbyes and making our way to our car. It was going to be a good night, likely passing quickly considering how tired I saw Octavia was. Training was finally over, and with how long the few months had felt like years, I was excited to see what missions Twilight might have for us.