Sunsets Training Begins, Bage Finds a True Rival!
Canterlot Guard Training Area, Early Morning
Bage walked into the training area to see Sunset waiting for him, a training sword held aloft in her magic. He scoffed and shook his head, he had a lot to teach her. "You won't need that, this isn't sword training. I like the can-do attitude though," He called out, but Sunset didn't respond. As he got closer, he saw she was asleep. "Tch, you really fit the bill with a name like Sunset." Bage joked, grabbing the sword from her magic, and tossing it to the side. The sword clattered against the floor, and Sunset snapped awake.
"Huh, what? Oh, about time you got here," Sunset muttered, yawning. Bage rolled his eyes, knowing she was probably only here for a few minutes.
"It's barely past sunrise, but ok. I'm guessing you're ready to get started?" Bage asked, setting up some training dummies.
"Yeah, where's your sword? How are you going to train me if you're unarmed?" Sunset grabbed the sword from earlier, and Bage just chuckled and shot a beam from his finger, blasting the sword to splinters.
"That's how. Were you even paying attention yesterday? That and actual fighting," Bage told her. Sunset stared in shock at the remains of the training sword, and realized what he meant when he said 'Seriously wreck anything it touches'. If he could do that with a small blast, what could he do if he got really mad? She had only just managed to make a ball of energy, and he could turn a wooden sword to smithereens. "By the way you have more than enough energy to do that, you just need to hone it." Bage didn't even glance back at her, still moving the dummies around.
"I do? What makes you so certain? All you've seen me do is make a ball," Sunset remarked, and Bage pulled something out of his pocket.
"This is a scouter, it lets me read out a being's power level. Here, I'll show you." Bage placed the scouter onto the right side of his head and tapped it. It let a series of beeps and lit up with a bunch of flashing lights.
Power Level: 1000
"About 1,000, pretty high, and about what I'd expected. You'd be nearly half as strong as Celestia at about midnight. Not bad, considering you just learned energy control. But you've got a lot to learn." Bage took the scouter off and put it back in his pocket.
"Like flight? That's what I'm really interested in, the rest is just icing," Sunset waved her hoof, making Bage raise an eyebrow.
"Icing, huh? Hate to break it to you, but we aren't stopping at just flight. You've got me looking forward to sparring with someone who can actually keep up, even if I'm wearing weighted gear. We're going all out, and this place is probably gonna get wrecked," Bage countered, grinning. Sunset stared at him, trying not to show her trepidation. She hadn't planned on this turning into a full thing.
"What do you mean by 'all out' exactly?" Sunset chuckled nervously, tapping her hooves together.
"Exactly what it sounds like; I'm teaching you how to fight, how to use your energy for blasts and beams, how to fly using your energy, and we're gonna get strong at the same time. Hope you're ready to take some punches and dish 'em out too." Bage kicked a large box toward her, and it slid to a stop in front of her. She opened it and saw a set of armor that looked like his. "I had the blacksmith make a set for you, though it's not as durable. I don't exactly know what my armor is made of, so I couldn't tell him." Sunset looked the armor over, noting that it was designed for a quadruped, but the design was identical to Bages' own. "Go ahead and put it on, you'll need it," Bage commented. Sunset picked the armor up and noted it was in multiple parts, one for her chest and barrel and sections for her legs that clipped onto it, as well as hoof boots.
"I need all this for training? Seems a bit excessive," Sunset noted, to which Bage walked over to a dummy, drew his fist back, and punched it. The dummy exploded all over the training area, with bits of straw landing all over the weapon rack. Sunset stared in shock at the display of force, and Bage turned towards her.
"That was me holding back, still think you don't need that armor?" He asked, and Sunset shook her head frantically. "Good, now suit up, we're burning daylight."
'He's going to kill me. I made a huge mistake' she thought. Bage picked a piece of straw out of his hair and flicked it away.
"I can tell from that look that you're having second thoughts, but trust me, that won't happen to you. That armor is meant to withstand a blast from Celestia, and your power level and mine are about equal. You'll be fine, I promise," Bage assured her. Sunset quickly put the armor on, finding that it was surprisingly comfortable, and stretchy. "How's the fit? I didn't know what to tell him for your measurements, so he went with just a standard unicorn mare guard, I guess he was pretty close," Bage explained while leaning on a support beam. Sunset patted the chest of the armor, not even able to feel the minor pressure from her hoof.
"Why don't the other guards have this? It seems like it should be standard," She wondered out loud and Bage just shrugged.
"Couldn't tell ya, but it might be because it's not good against blades. They go right through," Bage told her, making Sunset glad he wasn't using a sword. "Now, let's get started. Go ahead and focus on your energy, and imagine it flaring out like a fire." Sunset closed her eyes and focused, trying to draw that warmth she felt yesterday. She felt something envelop her body, pulsing erratically. "Alright, you're doing great. Keep that up, but don't force it. Relax, you're too tense, you have to let your energy do the work." Bage watched as Sunset's aura pulsed and flared, but it steadily calmed down. After a few seconds, it died down, before disappearing. Sunset dropped to her knees, panting, and Bage walked over and helped her up.
"Huff, why is that, huff, so hard? How do you, huff, do it so easily?" Sunset gasped, sitting down again. Bage sat down next to her and crossed his arms.
"You have to remember, I've been doing this since I was three. I've got experience that you don't. But you're new to this, and the progress you've made is amazing. Most saiyans would have an easier time of this since we can just access our energy with only a little training, so don't beat yourself up over it." Bage patted her back, nearly knocking her to the ground. "Sorry."
Sunset shook her head and stood up again. "It's fine, I didn't even feel it." Sunset's eyes widened. "Oh wow, this armor IS pretty good." Bage nodded, patting his own armor.
"See? Told ya. This stuff is great for fighting hand to hand, or hand to hoof I guess," Bage said standing up. "Now let's continue. Try again, but this time don't tense up. You'll never get the hang of this by brute forcing it." Sunset tried to focus on her energy again, but this time she let her muscles relax. This time she felt the energy flare out again with much less force, like a gentle candle flame rather than a blazing wildfire. She opened her eyes and saw a pulsing white energy surrounding her body. "I think I did it. It still feels like I'm burning energy, but it's not exhausting." She waved her hoof around, watching the energy move with it.
"You've got it. Now, focus on lifting off the ground. It's a little scary at first, but once you're used to it, you can focus on moving around in the air." Bage demonstrated by lifting off the ground with his own aura. Sunset jumped, trying to do the same thing but fell back to the ground. "No, that's wrong. Let your energy do the work. It will provide the lift, you just need to focus," Bage crossed his arms and set back down on the ground. She tried again, imagining she was lifting off like a pegasus, and nearly felt her heart stop when her hooves stopped touching the ground. She looked down and saw she was a foot up in the air, Bage smiling at her. "Alright, good. Don't panic, you'll just crash and get hurt. Stay up as long as you can." Sunset nodded, wobbling as she focused on staying in the air.
"It's like being caught in a wind storm. It's so freeing, this must be what pegasi feel like all the time." She turned to look at her flank and nearly flipped over.
"Careful! Just because you aren't up that high doesn't mean you can't hurt yourself, stay focused," Bage chastised, frowning. Sunset glared at him but kept still, trying to maintain her lift. Eventually, her energy died down, and she fell back to the ground where Bage caught her.
"I didn't need you to catch me, I could have landed on my own." She jumped out of his arms, sneering.
"From a foot off the ground, maybe not. Next time I'll just let you faceplant, so how you feel then." He snarked back, smirking. Sunset just waves him off, frowning. "One more thing, and don't take this the wrong way, but you might want to cut your mane short." Sunset looked at her mane, blinking. "It can get in the way when you're flying, and it can be a liability when you're in the heat of-" Sunset stomped a hoof and growled.
"Shut the hell up about my mane! What makes you think you know anything about mane style anyway!" She turned and galloped off, leaving Bage confused.
"O-K, guess we're done then." Bage shrugged and walked out of the training area, bewildered.
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Bage waited in the training area the next morning, practicing some punches and kicks in the air, when he heard hooves clopping down the hall. He looked over and saw Sunset walking in, her mane cut short. "I see you went with my advice. I don't know why you made such a big deal about it yesterday," Bage remarked. Sunset just grimaced, glaring at him.
"Just shut up, lets get back to what we were doing yesterday." Sunset floated a cup over to him, which he grabbed.
"What's this?" He sniffed the cup, smelling something rich and pungent.
"Coffee, the staple of every night owl and late night worker." Sunset sipped from her own cup, while Bage simply stared at his. He tentatively took a small sip, recoiling from the taste, but decided it wasn't bad, simply unexpected. "Lets focus on me learning how to fly. Also, I did some reading last night. According to the Japonese, the energy your so used to using is called 'KI' or life energy."
Bage blinked, before shrugging. "That does help save time, instead of saying energy. Looks like books are good for something other than kindling." Bage downed his cup of coffee, and belched. Sunset wrinkled her nose at that, but stayed quiet. "So, you were doing good yesterday, and you managed to stay up for a decent bit of time. So I'd say we can work on maneuvering through the air, and after that, forming ki blasts and other abilities." Bage formed a ball of energy in his palm. "You remember how to do that, right?" Bage watched her make a similar ball of ki over her hoof, and sip her coffee. "Perfect, now go ahead and lift off from the ground, using your ki to push yourself in any direction." Bage lifted off and demonstrated by moving backwards toward a wall, then moving forward again.
Sunset flared her aura, lifting off like yesterday, though she still wobbled a bit. Willing herself to move forward, she shot towards Bage at high speed, causing him to hold his hands out to catch her. "WOAH! Jeez how do you control your speed?" She looked up and saw she was right in Bages' face, and frowned. "Let. Go." She pulled away from him, and flew backward, crashing into the weapon rack and sending swords and spears everywhere. "Ow, seriously how do I move without rocketing around in any direction?" Bage crossed his arms and sighed.
"You're not letting it do the work, you're forcing it. Just limit how much ki you use, and you can move slower." Bage touched back down, cracking his neck.
"Yeah, that doesn't explain anything. How do I 'let it do the work' when I don't know what I'm doing?" Sunset was getting frustrated, and Bage saw that he'd have to take a different approach to teaching her.
"Look, it's more simple than you're making it. How about this, how do you breath?" Bage asked. Sunset stared at him, unamused.
"That's even less than unhelpful!" She yelled, and Bage shook his head.
"You just do, you don't think about it. It's something your body does, this is the same. If you think too hard about it, the ki has too much force, and you go flying. Just relax, and let the ki do the work." He explained, and Sunset tried again, this time letting her muscles go slack. Her body moved forward slowly, she tried to reverse, and shot toward the wall again. "RELAX!" She stopped, her back touching the wall gently.
"I did it. I actually did it!" She pumped her hoof in the air, and Bage snickered.
"Congratulations, you managed to do what most others can manage at the age of 6," Bage chuckled, making Sunset grit her teeth. "But still, good job. Now, try and go higher." Sunset looked down at the ground, then looked back at Bage.
"I'm plenty high up thank you!" She yelled. Bage just stared up at her, before lifting off the ground and flying toward her.
"If you don't cut that mental tether to the ground, you're going to limit yourself in every way, and you'll never be able to do this." He grabbed her by the forelegs and dragged her upward.
"HEY, LET GO!" Sunset tried to pull away, but he kept his grip tight.
"Not if you're going to chicken out when you've made so much progress." Bage continued to go higher and higher, the training area growing smaller in her sight.
"W-Wait, I don't like heights! Can we go back down, please?" Sunset pleaded, but Bage ignored her, letting her hooves go and watching her float there.
"You wanted to fly, so here you go." Bage took a deep breath in, enjoying the freedom that came from being so high up. Sunset looked down at the tiny spot that was Canterlot and let out a small squeak. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks, and she latched onto Bage. "Guh, HEY! What gives?" Sunset stared downward, shaking. "Look, if you want to go back down, you'll have to relax and do it yourself." Bage pried her off and pushed her away, as she struggled to steady herself. "HEY! You need to RELAX, and let your ki carry you back down. If you fall, I'll make sure you don't turn into paste on the ground," Bage explained. Sunset gulped, trying to calm her nerves.
"You didn't tell me you were going to fly me up several miles into the air," Sunset whimpered, trembling.
"About 170, actually. High enough that the air is cool, but not too thin. Since I arrived here, I've been flying up this high just to think. It's an old habit I have, helps me clear my head." Bage stared out at the horizon, admiring the expanse of Equestria. "This place is pretty peaceful, not something I'm used to. It's been a long time since I was able to take a break from conquering planets. Ever since I was 6 I've been sent from planet to planet, killing it's inhabitants, blasting the surface until there's nothing left of the race that called it home. Just so Frieza can sell it. So many dead, and for what? A couple thousand credits? I've never thought about it before, I can't believe I was a pawn for him for so long. Then to top it all off, as payment for our servitude he blows up our planet, and kills every saiyan on it." Bage closed his eyes, frowning. Sunset stared at him, unsure how to respond. Bage opened his eyes, looking at her.
Sunset stared off into the distance where Bage was looking, barely able to see the beginning of the Frozen North. She realized she wasn't panicky anymore, and her ki had calmed down. "I think I'm calm enough now, we can probably head back down." She felt herself start to drop, and almost panicked again. She took a deep breath, and let her muscles relax. He had a point, it was pretty peaceful up here. "I can see why you do this, it's like gravity isn't even a factor," she remarked. Bage laughed, and dropped his aura, freefalling back to the ground. She started after him, watching as he become a small dot. 'Idiot.' She quickened her pace, flying back down. She finally managed to make it back to the training area, where Bage was waiting next to a cart of food.
"Hey, I had some food brought out, since its about lunchtime." Bage was already digging into a massive plate of... some mind of meat.
"Thanks, I guess." Sunset lifted the platter off, seeing a rather nice looking garden salad, with shredded arugula. "Hm, my favorite. How'd you know?" She looked up at him, and he swallowed.
"Celestia told me." He went back to eating. She turned back to the salad, grabbing a fork and digging in. Neither noticed they were being watched, as a guard shifted into the from of a maid, and ducked out of sight.
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Changeling Hive, Royal Chamber
Chrysalis looked over the interaction between Bage and Sunset Shimmer, a grin forming on her lips. "Wingless flight, energy based attacks. This Bage truly is a marvel. It seems that Celestia's student has also taken an interest in him, for the same reason. We'll have to keep an eye on her as well." She motioned toward a drone, who bowed and relayed the message to the scout who was assigned to the task. "These things he's teaching her, could we replicate it?" She asked the drone. The drone gave a quick nod.
"With time, we can teach the warrior lings how to harness this 'KI' for our own purposes." The drone stated, and Chrysalis smirked.
"Good. If we can master these techniques, we can push our invasion up ahead of schedule. Equestria will be ours for the taking, and not even Celestia could stand up to our might!" She shouted, her changelings cheering over the hivemind. "We shall become the most powerful force in the world, a true superpower! We will feast upon the love of Equestria, and any other nation on Equis. With this 'KI' we could even take on the mighty Minotaurs of Minos, or the Griffin Empire in Griffonstone! Our armies will be unstoppable, unmatched, and our love shortage will be at an end!" She announced, the roar of the hivemind echoing in her mind. "Prepare yourself, Celestia. For soon, the Changeling Hive shall rise and claim this world for our own. And it will all start with Bage. MHMHHAHAHAHAHA!"
Bage (Weighted Armor) Power Level:1,000
Sunset (Ki Training)Power LEvel:1,100