“Now I’mma go easy on ya,” Applejack said to Aria while stretching her arms, “Don’t wanna hurt ya or nothin’. And we still don’t know what ya’ll are capable of just yet, so let’s--”
“Ugh, come on,” Aria groaned as she rolled her eyes, “spare me the lectures and just come at me already.”
With a determined smirk on her face, Applejack obliged. “Alright, you asked for it.”
Given that AJ’s magic primarily enhanced her physical capabilities, it led her to being more of a close-range fighter which put her at handicap against the gothic siren who could control the foundation of air itself.
Applejack leapt at her with a tae-kwon-do style kick, which Aria barely managed to dodge. She then followed this up with a sweeping kick--that Aria jumped over, and a palm strike that Aira blocked. Their entire scuffle would continue to play out like this. Every time AJ threw an attack in her direction, Aria was forced to block or dodge.
She couldn’t figure out just how or when to utilize her magic while being pressured up close.
“Gah…” the violet siren muttered as she leaned backwards to dodge another punch, “This is--I can’t--”
“Watch yer opponent’s movements,” Applejack commented as she took a step back, “A wild boar or a mean bronco is one thing, but if you ever get into a fight against another person, you gon’ hafta beat ‘em with yer mind and body.”
“Rrgh...I can barely focus in math class,” Aria muttered, “Thinking on my feet is something I’m not good at.”
“Don’t worry, sugarcube. That’s what this is for,” Applejack got into a fighting stance once more, “Now try it again, and this time try an’ make a move before I do.”
“Hmmm…” Once she understood that, things became clearer. In her first bout of quick thinking, Aria forced Applejack towards her with a strong gale force from behind.
“Woah!” she cried out as she stumbled from the sudden gust of wind.
This gave Aria the opening she needed. With another strong burst of air from her palm, she blasted Applejack onto her back in the middle of the ring. “...Holy crap--it worked.”
“Oof!” she grunted as soon as she made contact with the ring’s floor. “Not bad, sugarcube.” But she wasn’t going to stay down for long. She used her arms to spring up and off of the ring’s floor, and stand upright. Then she ran towards Aria with another flying kick.
But this time, the siren was prepared.
PLOP!
With a swift hand, Aria caught Applejack by her ankle, stopping her kick entirely. Granted, the latter was holding back since it was a mere sparring session, but despite that, she was still surprised.
“...Oh mah stars and stripes…” Applejack muttered with shrunken pupils once she realized her foot was stuck. No one had ever stopped her mid-attack before.
“...” Aria was also unable to think for a moment with her mouth agape. But she quickly regained focus when she realized she had an advantage. “Heeeyuh!” With a hefty grunt, she managed to turn Applejack’s force against her and throw her a few feet away. This was then followed up by a massive updraft of wind that force-lifted Applejack into the air.
“Gyah!” she shouted once she was flung upwards, “What in tarnation--?!”
“Got you now!” Aria boosted her jumping power with a small wind to push her into the air, and went for a mid-air roundhouse kick.
At least, that was the plan until.
SNATCH!
Applejack grabbed her leg this time, and quickly flung her back down to the boxing ring with a loud thud!
“Agh!” While she wasn’t hurt, Aria swore under her breath. “Son of a…”
AJ landed on her feet and said, “A fox don’t git in the hen house by makin’ noise, sugarcube.”
“Uch! What does that even mean?”
“I think ya know what I’m sayin’,” she said with a smug expression on her face, much to the dismay of Aria. “C’mon now. Wanna keep goin’?”
As those two continued to duke it out in the gym’s ring, Sunset and Adagio were busy spectating from the water cooler.
“Looks like Aria is still as aggro as ever, huh?” Sunset commented as she sipped her water.
“You could say something like that. She’s been like that ever since we were little mer-gals,” Adagio replied, “But you...you’ve changed since we last met, Sunset. You’re a bit more...approachable, per se. What happened in that timeframe?”
Sunset stared at the ground with a heavy, long frown. “A lot. There’s way too much to cover in one sitting. But for the moment, all you need to know is that I’ve found my place in this world,” she looked up at the yellow siren with a smile, “And I couldn’t be any happier. Though…”
“Though what?”
“...I’m still not strong enough,” Sunset looked down at her open palm, and balled it into a fist, “I may be the strongest one here, but I’m still far below that of Princess Twilight and even Starlight Glimmer. My friends are all amazing, but I can’t rely on them alone. The threats we’re facing are slowly starting to creep beyond that of what we can handle.”
That’s when Adagio started to recall another detail from the previous day. Twilight mentioned that Sunset and the other’s had gone off to fight a much more powerful creature near the edge of the city.
“...That’s right. Twilight told me about it yesterday before we took care of the chameleon. Just how strong was the demon you dealt with?”
“It was this huge, weird-looking bug-like creature,” she explained as she spread her arms apart to give a sense of scale, “Its exoskeleton was so tough that we couldn’t pierce through it. We had to combine all of our magic just to revert it back to being a fly.”
Adagio paused, then shuddered, gritting her teeth. “Yeeegh...that sounds disgusting.”
“I know, right? It was cool, but man was it a tough nut to crack,” Sunset huffed as she sat down in a nearby chair, “If this keeps up, we’re gonna be swamped with extra crap during Thanksgiving and nobody wants that. That’s why...I’d be grateful if you guys helped us.”
“Hm,” Adagio sat down next to her, crossing one leg over the other, “I don’t mind at all. You’re lucky that we’ve adapted to this world and enjoy it now. Looking back...it wasn’t very fun living in Equestria--especially once the Crusty Old Man flung us here.”
Such a strange, but apt term for Starswirl. It caused Sunset to chuckle. “Wow...I mean, you’re not wrong, but--”
With her hands behind her head, Adagio didn’t have a care in the world as she continued her spiel. “I’m serious. But this world has its perks also. Octavia in particular is a joy to hang around when she isn’t busy. So yes. It wouldn’t sit well with me if something were to happen to this world.”
“Well that’s good to hear,” Sunset replied with a relieved smile, “If I can count on you guys, we may just have a chance against these things.”
The fact that Sunset wasn’t confident in herself caused Adagio’s eyes to shoot wide open. “It’s surprising to hear you say such things,” she retorted, “I figured you would be far stronger given who you worked under. After all, you learned from Celestia, and she learned things from Starswirl…”
Sunset placed her elbow on her knee, and the palm of her hand against the side of her head. “That’s just it...I didn’t learn enough from her to be anywhere near on the same level. I need the power of my friends just to have a chance. For instance--when Twilight became a corrupted version of herself, I needed to combine the power of my friends and generate a singularity just to acquire a form on par with hers.” She chuckled, then sighed. “...Ah...even then, her dog, Spike--he gave us the edge we needed when he distracted her with his voice. So needless to say, I’m still working on myself every day to make sure I get stronger too.”
“She’s got guts in her...more than I realized.” Adagio placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “...Takes a lot to admit you’re not strong enough to handle something. I respect that. That’s how I feel sometimes as well.”
“Guess we both have something in common, eh?”
“That we do, Shim. That we do…”